Letter: Outpatient cap makes no sense

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2003 | 8:49 a.m.

Medicare rehabilitation benefits have been cut. That was the news I received when I took my wife in for physical therapy subsequent to having a shoulder operation.

Effective Sept. 1, Medicare will limit the outpatient therapy care to a maximum of $1,590 a year. It would, however, continue to pay in excess of that amount for physical therapy provided it was done in an outpatient status in a hospital. This does not make sense to me.

Why have a cap for outpatient care outside of a hospital setting?

There are many elderly people who undergo knee or hip replacement operations and require extensive physical therapy. It would make sense to undergo this therapy at the facility nearest to one's home. There are more nonhospital outpatient physical therapy clinics than there are facilities within hospitals. Why make someone travel a long distance because someone decided to cap the dollar amount?

Medicare should have only one approved rate for physical therapy. I have written our representatives in Washington and am anxiously awaiting to hear what the logic was behind this cap. Could it be a strong hospital lobby?

ROBERT L. MURAVCHICK