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A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of being a guest on Dr. Bianca Beldini's Integrative Wellness Collective Instagram Live where we discussed health advocacy. Now, you might not know what that is, but trust me, it's worth you learning!
To be a health advocate means you lobby your legislators at the federal and/or state level to help change laws that would make improvements in the health care system. These changes would help benefit myself, my profession, and of course, YOU!
One does not need to be a healthcare provider to be an advocate. As a consumer of health care in this country, you too can be an advocate.
Why would you care? Because things like:
-High Deductibles
-High Copays
-Prior Authorization
-Decreasing Reimbursment
-The possibility of your favorite PT or MD clinic having to close because of decreased insurance payments
-The insurance company having a medical management company who only gives you 6 visits when your plan clearly states you have 60 per calendar year
-YOUR insurance follows whatever Medicare decides to do! (Wait...Whaaaa?)
-The fact that Medicare says Telehealth for PT will go back to NOT being reimbursed after the COVID 19 Pandemic is over
-Student Loan Debt Burden
-And SO MANY more....
Are ANNOYING!
Let's get back to Medicare. Medicare sets the precedent for all other commercial insurances. Thus, if you don't have Medicare, it still matters to you what Medicare does because your insurance company will do the same thing eventually.
As of January 1, 2021 Medicare was set to cut reimbursement to physical therapy by 2%. It was 9% and we got it down due to our advocacy efforts! Due to the COVID19 pandemic, we advocate for them to delay the 2% cut since so many small businesses, including physical therapy, were hard hit by the pandemic.
If Medicare cuts reimbursement, then the other commercial insurances will also. What does this really mean for you? In the end, PT businesses might have to close, you might get less treatment time to accomodate the cuts, and you might get less visits. This is not good news for anyone.
You can participate in your first Arm Chair Advocacy act by asking your lawmaker to support H.R. 315 to extend the pause on the 2% cut here: https://t.co/PoCMzCRGqj
Learn more about my advocacy journey and how you too can become an advocate so easily by what I call "Arm Chair Advocacy". Not everyone has the hutspa to walk the halls of congress lobbying in person and that's ok! You can contribute to the advocacy efforts from your couch all while watching Netflix with the touch of your fingers on your phone or computer!
Learn more about all this, including how you can become an armchair advocate in Dr. Marko's new IG live interview on The Integrative Wellness Collective:
Follow on Instagram for More!
@DrTheresaMarko
@DrBiancaBeldini