HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

259

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO SUPPORT THE PASSAGE AND ENACTMENT OF THE MEDICARE ACCESS TO REHABILITATION SERVICES ACT OF 2005, TO PERMANENTLY REMOVE THE MEDICARE OUTPATIENT REHABILITATION THERAPY MONETARY CAPS.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, imposed monetary caps on Medicare services for occupational therapy and physical therapy; and

WHEREAS, currently, the caps on these services are not actually in effect due to a two-year moratorium that began on January 1, 2004. However, the moratorium ended on January 1, 2006, and each Medicare beneficiary will be eligible for a maximum benefit of about $1,700 for these services; and

WHEREAS, these rehabilitation services are very important to those elderly individuals suffering from strokes, hip fractures, Parkinson's disease, and osteoporosis, among other ailments, especially in light of the fixed incomes of most of these patients who would need to pay out of their own pockets any rehabilitation services costs beyond $1,700; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress has recognized the flaws in the therapy caps, enacting a moratorium on the caps three separate times; and

WHEREAS, in 2005, Senator John Ensign of Nevada and Representative Phil English of Pennsylvania introduced S. 438 and H.R. 916, respectively, entitled The Medicare Access To Rehabilitation Services Act Of 2005, which seeks to permanently repeal the Medicare therapy caps; and

WHEREAS, the two bills enjoy very strong support in general with one hundred fourteen members of the House of Representatives and twenty-nine Senators signing on to the bills and momentum for support rapidly building; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature strongly urges the United States Congress to support the passage and enactment of The Medicare Access To Rehabilitation Services Act of 2005, S. 438 and H.R. 916, to permanently remove the Medicare outpatient rehabilitation therapy monetary caps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of Hawaii's congressional delegation are strongly urged to support the same measures in their respective houses of Congress; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Medicare Outpatient Rehabilitation Therapy Caps; Urge Repeal