On Dec. 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a slimmed down year-end legislative package to fund the federal government until March 14, 2025. The U.S. Senate subsequently passed the bill, and President Biden signed it into law on Dec. 20.
The signed legislation unfortunately omitted two provisions advocated by APTA that had been included in an initial proposed package released by House leaders earlier on Dec. 17: over $2 billion in additional funding to provide a 2.5% boost to the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which would have mitigated the scheduled cut to providers paid under the fee schedule; and a two-year extension on telehealth that would have included therapists as authorized providers through the end of 2026. Both of these items had broad bipartisan support and were viewed as noncontroversial.
However, other provisions in the initial package were met with opposition, leading Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and congressional House leaders to go back to the drawing board and cut most of the provisions from the initial proposed package, significantly scaling down its size and scope.
Bill Scrapped by Congress Would Have Addressed Medicare Cuts
Despite last-minute efforts by APTA champions in the House to reinsert the 2.5% boost to the 2025 fee schedule in the revised package, the version signed into law excluded this provision. The next opportunity to address the fee schedule cut will be in the first quarter of the new year, when Congress must pass yet another legislative package to fund the government or trigger a shut down on March 14, 2025. At that time, the provision to provide additional funding to address the fee schedule cut will be on the table for inclusion; APTA will push for any fix to be made retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025.
Telehealth Extended Through March 2025
The package does include an extension of the ability to provide telehealth services under Medicare, including those provided by PTs and PTAs, which were set to expire on Dec. 31. The deal extends Medicare telehealth services through the end of March 2025. An extension for telehealth for the remainder of 2025 or later will be on the table for inclusion in the March 2025 congressional package.
Work Begins Immediately for the 119th U.S. Congress
The 119th U.S. Congress convenes in January and must address these and dozens of other outstanding issues that were cut from the initial legislative deal. APTA will continue to fight for a long-term policy on telehealth and reforms to the Medicare fee schedule, including the need for payment increases and the APTA-supported legislation to provide an annual inflationary update; and will continue to coordinate our efforts with the dozens of other impacted health care provider and patient groups. To keep up to date and to continue to pressure your members of Congress, join the APTA Advocacy Network.