On November 2, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register entitled “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2019.” Among the provisions in the proposed rule is a section that would provide individual states with increased flexibility in defining essential health benefits (EHB) for purposes of establishing benchmark plans required by the Affordable Care Act.
AOPA submitted official comments on the proposed rule on November 27, 2017. Our comments reflected AOPA’s consistent position that orthoses and prostheses must remain essential health benefits and any action by CMS that restricts or reduces access to O&P services is not in the best interest of quality patient care.
Questions regarding this issue may be directed to Joe McTernan at (571) 431-0811 or Devon Bernard at (571) 431-0854.