Congress Passes Continuing Resolution Legislation

On March 11, 2025, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 1986 to fund the government through September 30, 2025. On March 14, 2025, the United States also passed this legislation and President Trump has signed it into law. In this article, I will provide the answers to the following topics regarding this legislation and its impact on outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy services:

Reimbursement Differences Between Private Practices and Hospitals

If you are on social media, whether Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), I am sure you are seeing posts of therapists in private practices complaining about the difference in reimbursement hospital outpatient therapy departments receive compared to a private practice when providing the exact same intervention(s) and/or procedure(s). However, instead of complaining, I think private practices should use this discrepancy to their advantage. In this article, I will answer the following questions and provide valuable insight how private practices can use this discrepancy to increase their business and revenue.

MPFS or OPPS: How are We Reimbursed for Outpatient Therapy?

Many employees of hospitals do not understand how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimburse for outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy services provided by a hospital outpatient therapy department. Does CMS reimburse for these services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) or the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)? In this article, I will answer the following questions:

9.75% Medicare Payment Cut Partially Averted

The United States House of Representatives and United States Senate have both passed S. 610 which has 3 positive implications for providers of outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services for calendar year 2022. QuestionDoes S. 610 stop the 3.75% decrease in the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Conversion Factor (CF) thereby halting the 3.75% percent decrease in payments for outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services in 2022? Answer QuestionDoes S. 610 stop the 4% pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) deficit control budget rules that was to go into effect in CY 2022 thereby further decreasing outpatient outpatient physical, occupational and speech … Read More

CMS Publishes 2021 MPFS Conversion Factor

On January 5, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the revised conversion factor (CF) for services reimbursed under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for calendar year 2021. This would include outpatient therapy services provided in all outpatient therapy settings except for critical access hospitals since critical access hospitals are not reimbursed under the MPFS. The revised 2021 CF for services paid under the MPFS is In addition, I have created an excel spreadsheet that provides the Medicare allowed amount for the most common CPT codes billed by physical, occupational and speech therapy for calendar year … Read More

CMS Releases 2021 Final Rule for Services Reimbursed Under the MPFS

On December 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for services paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). This would include outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services provided in all outpatient therapy settings except for a critical access hospital. Highlights of the final rule include, but are not limited to, the following: 2021 Medicare Conversion Factor and 9% Payment Reduction Accessing the 2021 Relative Value Units (RVU’s) for Each CPT Code 2021 Annual Therapy Threshold Dollar Amount Student Documentation in the Medical Record Maintenance Therapy Provided by PTA’s and OTA’s Communication-Based … Read More

CMS Releases CY 2021 Proposed Rule for Services Paid Under the MPFS

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the calendar year (CY) 2021 Proposed Rule for services paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). This would include outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services provided in all settings (private practice (both therapist-owned and physician-owned, skilled nursing facilities doing Part B, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities, rehabilitation agencies, home health agencies providing Part B therapy services in the home and hospital outpatient therapy departments). This proposed rule would not apply to outpatient therapy services provided by critical access hospitals (CAHs) since CAHs are not reimbursed under the MPFS. Highlights … Read More