• Login

    • Month: September 2013

    Latest Blog

    AOPA Emphasizes Patient Access to Care When Urging the Department of Commerce to Exclude Custom O&P in National Security Probe

    Monday, Oct 20, 2025

    2013 O&P World Congress Call for Papers

    Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando, Florida, USA – The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA) and its partners, The U.S. National Member Society of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (USISPO); and the German Association of Orthopaedic Technology/Con.fair.med are pleased to announce this call for papers for the 2013 World Congress to be held Sept. 18-21, 2013 at the Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando, Florida, USA.

    The World Congress program committee has made a commitment to having a strong scientific program and is soliciting scientific and clinical case study abstracts for the congress. The committee invites you to submit an abstract to be considered for presentation at the congress.

    The committee has also made a commitment to have extraordinary plenary sessions with invited speakers who are leading experts from the world over, such as the following esteemed professionals.

    • Dr. Roy D. Bloebaum, Ph.D. – is a Research Scientist and Co-Director of the VA Bone and Joint Research Lab at the Dept of Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System. Dr. Bloebaum’s publications include 113 peer reviewed manuscripts on bone and total joint replacement related topics and he has been a guest lecturer on these topics all over the world.
    • Heinz Trebbin, CPO, MSc – is an international activist, speaker and founder of the renowned Don Bosco P&O educational program, the only fully accredited P&O program in all of Latin America.
    • Dr. Andrew Hansen, Ph.D. – is the Director of the Minneapolis VA Rehab Engineering Research Program and Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hansen is an internationally recognized expert in ankle-foot prosthetics. His team is actively developing rehabilitation technologies and performing research studies to evaluate effects of medical devices on user performance.
    • Dan Berschinski, a decorated war veteran, lost both of his legs during Operation Enduring Freedom. This has not slowed him down. He recently founded and will serve as CEO of Two-Six Industries LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business. Two-Six Industries produces injection molded plastic components; new research will explore the commercial feasibility of prosthetic socket designs. He also serves on the board of directors for the Amputee Coalition.
    • Dieter Juptner – President of the German Group Ampuwiki

    Strong scientific and clinical case study submissions are expected from around the world. The format of the conference will provide a substantial audience for novel research focused on orthotics and prosthetics. The AOPA hosted World Congress will bring together prosthetists, orthotists, physicians, scientists, researchers, engineers, programmers, clinicians, and other professionals. This diverse community of professionals focusing on different aspects of orthotics and prosthetics will provide a unique and powerful environment to advance the field forward.

    Before submitting a paper we ask that you review the model for the abstract format which also provides additional information about the submission process. The model abstract is available at this link:

    Papers are being accepted for podium, poster and/or symposium sessions. Click here for more information or to submit a paper.

    For general information about the congress, we invite you  to visit the World Congress website, email worldcongress@AOPAnet.org or contact Tina Moran at (571) 431-0808.

    We look forward to seeing you in Orlando in September 2013 for the largest and most significant event for orthotics, prosthetics and pedorthics in the Western Hemisphere.

    Dobson DaVanzo Study: Medicare Scandal

    STUDY: MEDICARE SCANDAL CONTINUES WITH SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF PAYMENTS FOR ORTHOTIC AND PROSTHETIC DEVICES GOING ILLEGALLY TO UNLICENSED PROVIDERS

    CMS Payments to Unlicensed Providers Violates 2000 and 2005 Laws; Regulatory “Overkill” by Agency Adds Insult to Injury by Tying Up Legitimate Industry in Red Tape.

    WASHINGTON, D.C. September 17, 2013 – Despite laws passed by Congress in 2000 and 2005 and a 2009 “60 Minutes” expose, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has failed to stop the illegal practice of paying unlicensed providers for orthotic and prosthetic services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, according to a new study by Allen Dobson, PhD, Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC, and former director of research of the Health Care Financing Agency (currently CMS). Furthermore, CMS has incorrectly told Congress that such illegal payments have ceased and is now engaged in an overkill regulatory assault on legitimate licensed industry providers.

    According to the report, a significant percent of the $3.62 billion CMS paid between 2007-2011 for orthotic and prosthetic services for Medicare beneficiaries went to unlicensed providers, as well as those who fail to meet the accreditation requirement legislated by Congress in 2000.   This means that billions of dollars in payments were made to providers who Congress specifically intended to exclude from eligibility for payments under the requirements of the 2000 and 2005 laws.

    Thomas F. Kirk, PhD, president, American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA), said:   “Taxpayers are seeing billions of dollars go to unlicensed providers in direct violation of what Congress has mandated.  The legitimate industry is being subjected to a misdirected and entirely arbitrary crackdown via government-sanctioned bounty hunters playing by their own set of rules.  And even as unlicensed firms continue to have federal funds lavished on them in violation of the law, the reputable, licensed and legal operators in the industry are being subjected to a regulatory crackdown that is so severe that AOPA has been forced to go to court to challenge it in order to avoid seeing the orthotic and prosthetic industry so enmeshed in pointless government challenges, audits, and other costly and time-consuming red tape that it is unable to meet the urgent needs of patients.”

    Report author Allen Dobson, PhD, said:  “The data from 2001 to 2006, and from 2007 to 2011, show that there has not been any significant change by CMS to eliminate payments to unlicensed providers in orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) licensure states. Specifically, only a small reduction in the proportion of payments to non-certified O&P personnel has been evidenced since 2009. Our analytic results are consistent with the results of a third party independent survey that confirmed that non-certified providers are continuing to provide O&P services to Medicare beneficiaries as recently as in 2013.”

    The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association supports efforts by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) to introduce legislation that would go a long ways towards addressing this problem.

    Thomas A. Scully, Esquire, Alston & Bird, former administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said:   “It’s significant when an entire sector of the health care industry comes to CMS and asks them to regulate them more strongly and protect patients better.  The bill will greatly reduce fraud, protect patients and save money in Medicare’s treatment of a very important and sensitive group of patients.  Keeping out fraudulent providers in the first place is a better way to fight Medicare fraud and abuse instead of ongoing pay and chase methods.”

    Cost savings for Medicare could result from adherence to the law.  As the report notes:  “If CMS was to actively enforce that unlicensed providers cannot receive payment for providing O&P services to Medicare beneficiaries within a licensure state, Medicare savings could be realized. Under such enforcement of limiting payments to providers with proven licensure and standards of training and experience, payments to unqualified providers would be eliminated. As the ’60 Minute’ special suggested, allowing non-certified personnel to provide these services, especially in states with licensure, could lead to fraud and abuse in O&P services, as well as expose patients who received these services to inappropriate or substandard care. Therefore, shifting payments to only certified providers could result in better care for beneficiaries and lower Medicare payments.”

    BACKGROUND

    Congress passed the Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA Section 427) and mandated that within one year of enactment custom fabricated orthotics and all prosthetics must be provided by “qualified practitioners” and “qualified suppliers.” Transmittal 656, effective October 1, 2005, further mandated that CMS should only pay for O&P services for Medicare beneficiaries from practitioners and suppliers that meet state O&P licensure laws. However, no steps were taken to enforce either of these provisions. A total of 14 states have enacted an O&P licensure statute; therefore, despite current practice, only certified personnel are authorized to provide O&P services to Medicare beneficiaries in those states.

    The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association commissioned Dobson | DaVanzo to analyze Medicare claims data from 2007 through 2011 to determine the extent to which Medicare is reimbursing non-certified O&P personnel in states with a licensure statute for selected O&P services. The analyses conducted by Dobson | DaVanzo was then compared to prior analyses of claims data conducted on behalf of AOPA from 2001 through 2006. The new report summarizes the findings and trends of the data analyses from 2007 to 2011 and compares them to the trends from 2001 to 2006.

    ABOUT AOPA

    The American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association is a national trade association committed to providing high quality, unprecedented business services and products to orthotic & prosthetic (O&P) professionals.   Founded in 1917, AOPA membership consists of more than 2,000 O&P patient care facilities and suppliers that manufacture, distribute, design, fabricate, fit, and supervise the use of orthoses (orthopedic braces) and prostheses (artificial limbs).  For more information, visit https://aopanet.org.

    MEDIA CONTACTS:  Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266, or  pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com .

    EDITOR’S NOTE:  A streaming audio replay of this news event will be available on the AOPA Web site by 5 p.m. EDT on September 17, 2013 at https://aopanet.org