MOTA Advocating for Licensure Compact Legislation For 2021 Season!

Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact Legislation

Section-by-Section Summary

Fact Sheet for Practitioners

FAQ for Licensure Compact

AOTA Licensure Compact Page

www.otcompact.org

The OT Licensure Compact legislation has been introduced in the MO House (HB 542) and Senate (SB 330)!

Current Phase: Seeking additional sponsors once assigned to committee

MO COVID-19 Vaccine Plan

Occupational therapy practitioners are considered essential healthcare workers and are therefore included in Phase 1A of Missouri COVID-19 vaccination plan.

OT practitioners should have access to a vaccine through their employer or their city/county health department.

MOTA encourages all practitioners and students to call their local health department to inquire about the process for obtaining vaccines. MOTA received word that counties began receiving vaccines as early as 1/11/21. However, this does not mean that all health departments have access to the vaccine at this time. Some counties have an online form for practitioners and the general public to utilize tto sign up for a vaccine and others prefer people call to set-up an appointment.

MOTA will continue to advocate for all practitioners and students to receive the vaccine and we have been diligent in seeking out resources. We will have more vaccine related news as things continue to develop.

MO COVID Vaccine Website

MOTA Hires Legislative Consultant First Time in 3 Years

MOTA Hires Legislative Consultant for First Time in 3 Years

MOTA is excited to announce that we have hired Kyna Iman as our legislative consultant for the coming year.

It’s time for Missouri Occupational Therapy Practitioners to have a seat at the table!

Having a legislative consultant is vital to our efforts to improve MOTA’s efficacy in advocating for occupational therapy in the state of Missouri.

By being a member and encouraging others to join, you are a vital part of this initiative. We are able to support this effort because of Members like you!

Why We Need a Legislative Consultant:

1. Transition from ‘monitoring’ to ‘advocating’ for or against relevant legislation
2. Have a seat at the decision making table
3. Pass Licensure Compact (This cost is being supported by AOTA)
4. Advocate for changes to Medicaid to improve OTAs as eligible providers, increase reimbursement, and expand coverage of OT services to adults on Medicaid
5. Assist with setting up key meetings with leadership
6. Assist in building relationships with key officials in state departments
7. Assist with developing our advocacy day and identifying key legislation
8. Identify legislation that may need to be modified before it passed or before it is introduced on the floor
9. Assist with appointments to licensure board

MOTA Decision Making Process:

1. AOTA State Affairs identified 3 consultant groups that did not have conflicts of interest
2. MOTA selected two groups to interview via zoom
1. Who participated in these meetings? Clarice Grote, Director of Practice, Amy Stark, President, Michelle Jackson, Governmental Affairs Chair, and Ashlea Cardin, Treasurer
3. Kyna Iman was selected as the top candidate
4. Kyan spoke with Members and MOTA Board on October 26, 2020
1. Board voted to pursue a contract with Kyna and negotiate cost
5. Kyna provided contract proposal for a variety of services at the cost of $5000 per year
6. MOTA Board voted to approve this contract on November 14, 2020

Aproximately 40% of your dues are allocated to lobbying efforts.

How Can I Help?

1. Continue to support MOTA through membership
2. Encourage your coworkers and friends to join MOTA
3. Join our Legislative Task Force
4. Participate in our Advocacy Day in March

How Can I Find out More Information on Advocacy Initiatives?

1. Visit our advocacy page on the MOTA website
2. Join the Legislative Task Force
3. Follow us on Facebook. www.facebook.com/MissouriOTAssoc

Have any questions? What to get involved? Send us an email!

Clarice, Director of Practice - motapractice@gmail.com

Michelle, Governmental Affairs Chair - motagovaffairs@gmail.com

Medicare Approves 9% Reimbursement Cut for Occupational Therapy Services

Hello MOTA Members, 

We must call on you all to take action! 

Call and email your Congressmen and women at www.aota.org/takeaction 

Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) approved the rule to reduce payment for outpatient occupational therapy services. These reductions will result in an up to 9% payment reduction across the board for occupational therapy services billed under Medicare Part B. This reduction will take effect on January 1, 2021.

This is of great concern as many of our practices and facilities are facing challenges due to decreased case-loads and increased PPE costs due to COVID-19. 

Read AOTA's full analysis of the new rule HERE

What is AOTA doing?  AOTA has fought this change since early this summer when the proposed rule was in development and then organized for practitioners to send comments to CMS expressing concern over this change. Over 6000 practitioners submitted comments against the proposed therapy cut, but CMS did ultimately finalize the change on December 1, 2020.

AOTA has continuously lobbied Congress to address this issue in a legislative manner and this resulted in a letter from numerous House Members and Senators opposing the changes. Thus, AOTA successfully lobbied for the introduction of the bipartisan bill H.R. 8702, the Holding Providers Harmless From Medicare Cuts during COVID-19 Act of 2020. 

What can you do? The best thing you can do is call and write your legislators and urge them to support H.R. 8702 to delay these cuts for 2 years and provide time to find an alternative solution. AOTA provides an easy-to-use form where you simply enter your address and edit a form letter with your story and hit submit. Be sure to educate your coworkers on this issue and encourage them to also write their legislators. You can also message them on Twitter and Facebook #stopthecut.

Why is this happening? This change is part of the annual review of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). CMS increased spending on E/M codes for primary care physicians. These changes must be introduced in a budget-neutral manner, so when one goes up, another most go down. Unfortunately, therapy services and other are the services facing the reduction. 

More resources: 

• The CY2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule Released
• Therapy Associations Call on Congress to Address Medicare Payment Cuts
• AOTA - Virtual Hill Week 2021 Medicare Payment Cuts
• H.R. 8702 Holding Providers Harmless From Medicare Cuts During COVID-19 Act of 2020
• AOTA - Stop Medicare Payment Cuts Proposed for 2021
• AOTA- Therapy Associations Call on Congress to Address Medicare Payment Cuts
• 2021 Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program final rule
• Final Policy, Payment, and Quality Provisions Changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for Calendar Year 2021
• New Clinical Coding Guidelines Account For Patients’ Social Risk: We Should Do More To Ensure They Advance Health Care Quality And Equity

Best, 

Clarice 

-- 

Clarice Miller Grote

Director of Practice

E: motapractice@gmail.com

www.motamo.net

Twitter: @MissouriOTAssoc

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