Occupational therapy legislative priorities advance in 119th Congress

The 119th Congress will enter its lame-duck session after the November midterm elections to determine which party will control the 120th Congress, to be sworn in January 3, 2027. The time-limited lame-duck period generally focuses on must-pass legislation, including the extension of policies that are scheduled to expire or to enact bipartisan legislation that has broad support from both parties.

In past lame-duck sessions, Congress has provided funds to reduce the number of reimbursement cuts to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and to extend Medicare telehealth waivers that in past years have expired at year-end. Occupational therapy champions Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Jason Smith (R-MO) also worked in the 2020 lame-duck session to include a provision in a year-end package that enabled occupational therapists (OTs) to conduct the initial and comprehensive evaluations necessary to open a Medicare home health case.