Therapy caps have been in place since January 1, and NASL members are reporting that hundreds of patients have now reached the cap limits, and thousands more will likely do the same during the next few weeks. We have reached another crisis point, and are calling upon members to direct your employees to the NASL Advocacy Center www.capwiz.com/nasl to generate a strong grassroots campaign to keep the pressure on Congress to take prompt action to extend the therapy cap exceptions process.

 

A provision to extend the therapy cap exceptions process was included in both the House- and Senate-passed health care reform bills, and when Congress adjourned for the holidays, it appeared to be on track to complete action on the massive health care bill in time for President Obama’s first State of the Union address next week. However, things changed dramatically on Tuesday when Massachusetts voters elected a Republican to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy.

 

Adding a new Republican senator has changed the legislative landscape for health care reform because Senate Democrats no longer have the super majority of 60 votes necessary to defeat GOP challenges. Congressional leaders have spent the past few days trying to regroup and chart a pathway for passage of the health care reform bill.  The situation is very fluid at the moment.

 

With patients now starting to reach the therapy caps and uncertainty surrounding the fate of the health care reform legislation, we must continue to press Congress to extend the exceptions process. NASL has been lobbying key legislators and staff and has provided them with vignettes describing how patients can the cap within 30 days. We are also working with other therapy stakeholders to coordinate our efforts to send a strong and consistent message to Congress.

 

We will expand our grassroots campaign to include requests for telephone calls and personal visits once we identified the course of action that congressional leaders decide to take.

 

Our grassroots effort during December generated 4,000 messages in support of extending the exceptions process. While you and your employees might be dealing with grassroots fatigue, the next few weeks will be critical, so we request your immediate action on this alert. 

 

 

Please urge your employees to visit the NASL Advocacy Center www.capwiz.com/nasl to send messages to their legislators in support of the exceptions process.  NASL has prepared a “Dear Employee” letter that you can use to alert your employees. 

 

 

The NASL Advocacy Center www.capwiz.com/nasl is primed to facilitate grassroots action by NASL members and their employees on the therapy cap issue.

 

The NASL site is easy to use and requires a minimum amount of effort.  A sample letter is posted, and while we encourage people to personalize their messages, it is not required.  Employees can send e-mail messages to their legislators simply by adding their names and addresses to the letter we have prepared.  People sending messages through the site will receive a confirmation message from NASL.

 

It is not necessary for people to know the names and addresses of their legislators in order to send messages.  All we need is a person’s Zip Code in order to match them with their legislators – the advocacy center does the matching automatically. 

 

In order for the advocacy center to be effective, we need your help in encouraging employees to visit the site.  The NASL Advocacy Center provides an easy way for your employees to register their concerns on the therapy cap issue with their legislators.