Table of Contents

Letter from the Chair

Anthony Cuzzola Vice President JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute

As you may already be aware, we are retiring the AMRPA magazine after this issue. Over the years, our leadership, counsel and staff have covered every major policy issue facing the association in this magazine, and I’d like to thank the many contributors. I very much look forward to the next phase of our membership communication strategy, which includes our new AMRPA Access blog and new sections of our website, including a library of Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) meeting summaries. Through these changes, our members will be getting even more in-depth and timely coverage of the regulatory and legislative issues facing them an everyday basis, and I look forward to this next chapter.

There is certainly no shortage of change in other areas of the association as well. Last month, AMRPA's policy leaders met to discuss and finalize the association's policy priorities for 2021, taking into account the 117th Congress and new administration. The policy agenda is both comprehensive and ambitious, and has been informed by our members’ engagement before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency. We look forward to unveiling the priorities in the coming weeks and identifying issues where we can get more of our members involved in our Hill and agency-facing outreach.

With the new year and new list of priorities, we also have a new legislative counsel at the helm – McDermott Plus. McDermott Plus is a firm with decades of relevant government and industry experience, and their health-focused team includes lawyers, physicians, policy professionals, data analysts, and veterans of Capitol Hill and government agencies alike. We welcome the team to our AMRPA family, and I encourage you to be on the lookout for their timely updates on the blog and other member communications.

Looking ahead, I anticipate a remarkably busy year for AMRPA – one that will be filled with both challenges and opportunities. Much of our focus in recent weeks has been dedicated to the proposed Review Choice Demonstration, which would implement a pre-claim or post-payment review for every traditional Medicare inpatient rehabilitation patient in select states. AMRPA has identified a number of serious concerns with the proposal and its impact on patient access and care, which is detailed in an article in this issue. We’ve already engaged extensively with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and plan to also work with Congressional offices to convey our concerns. At the same time, I also see a number of opportunities over the coming months, ranging from the IMPACT Act reset to collaborating with other major provider groups on Provider Relief Fund distributions and reporting. I’ve also been a part of a number of meetings with regulatory and legislative policymakers over the past few months, and was pleased with their awareness of the role that our hospitals have played in the pandemic and the critical importance of medical rehabilitation to COVID-19 survivors and other patients. This recognition is due entirely to the work of our members and your contributions to the Association.

I look forward to discussing these issues and much more at our Spring Conference next month. If you haven’t already, I urge you to register today and take advantage of the virtual offerings, including our first virtual fly-in.

Thank you as always for your support and I look forward to working with you during a transformative year for AMRPA.

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