Senator Robert Casey re: S. 253 the Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2017,

Dear Mr. Austin: Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the Medicare therapy caps. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue. Outpatient physical, speech and occupational therapy services are subject to annual reimbursement caps under Medicare Part B. While there is an exceptions process in place that allows beneficiaries to continue receiving therapy after hitting the cap, I support fully repealing the therapy caps to ensure beneficiaries have access to critical rehabilitative care. During the 113th Congress, I was pleased to see that a full repeal of the therapy caps was included in discussions regarding legislation to reform the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), Medicare’s physician payment formula. During the 114thCongress, while it was important that the Senate came together to repeal and replace the flawed SGR formula by passing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, I was disappointed that a repeal of the therapy caps was not included in the final law. I cosponsored an amendment to this act to repeal the therapy caps, but the amendment failed to gain enough support to pass. I will continue to work on this issue. I am a proud cosponsor of S. 253, the Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2017, which was introduced by Senator Ben Cardin on February 1, 2017 and would repeal the therapy caps. This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance, of which I am a member. Should this bill come up for consideration by the Committee, please be assured I will keep your comments in mind. Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you. For more information on this or other issues, I encourage you to visit my website, http://casey.senate.gov. I hope you will find this online office a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania. Sincerely, Bob Casey United States Senator