Dear Legislator: Please read the following excerpt from the
Despite the fact Physical Therapists are the front line providers of musculoskeletal problems, they are considered by insurance as "specialists" and fall under the "specialist" high co-pay schedule.
Such high co-pay schedule makes prohibitive for thousands of patients to receive Physical Therapy services prescribed by their physicians.
This results in thousands of patients with unresolved problems who have to undergo expensive and invasive procedures. This drives up the costs of healthcare.
Evidence based Physical Therapy practice has shown to cut health care costs by more than 50%.
Correctly applied PT has been shown to reduce the utilization of imaging, medications, injestions and surgery at significant levels. Overall Low Back pain costs are the same in this country as the costs of treating cancer. These downstream savings are not being realized due to the significant cost burden on patients in a shortsighted attempt by insurers to cut their costs for physical therapy.
Not only unfair to the patient but adding the our healthcare cost crisis!
New York Physical Therapy Association web site:
"Managed care health insurers have designated physical therapists as specialists for co-payment purposes, allowing health plans to charge patients more per visit while maintaining reimbursement levels to physical therapists, thus shifting more of the cost burden onto the backs of consumers.
These specialty co-payments add up for New Yorkers, since physical therapy frequently requires multiple visits over an extended period of time as the practice of physical therapy works in conjunction with the healing process.
Health Plans call these specialty co-pays, we call them unfair.
That is why NYPTA is asking members of the State Legislature to support S.4321 sponsored by Senator Breslin and A.8171 sponsored by Assemblyman Cahill to end the imposition of additional co-pays on New Yorkers for physical therapy services on the basis of provider or setting".
