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LoBiondo
bill to give elderly better access to rehab care
Press of Atlantic City, June
10, 2003
VINELAND -
U.S. Rep. Frank A. Lobiondo, R-2nd, said Monday that he recently
introduced legislation that would revise a 19-year-old rule that blocks
some senior citizens' access to care at inpatient rehabilitation
facilities.
"If the current list is not updated, patients recovering from
conditions outside the current categories covered will be denied essential
rehabilitative care," LoBiondo said.
His bill would modernize the 75 percent rule to expand the list to include
such conditions as knee replacement, osteoarthritis and cardiac and
pulmonary illnesses covered under the inpatient rehabilitational
facilities payment system established by the Center for Medicare and
Medicaid Services.
LoBiondo said that on May 16, the center proposed reinstatement of the 75
percent rule regulating reimbursement to rehabilitation hospitals. Under
current rules, to qualify as an inpatient rehabilitation facility, an
institution must show that at least 75 percent of its inpatients require
intensive rehabilitative services to treat one of only 10 listed
conditions.
"However, while the list of 10 conditions in the 75 percent rule has
not been modified in almost 20 years, the range of injuries and illnesses
that seniors suffer from has increased dramatically, and so has the need
for rehabilitative care," LoBiondo said.
"I am hopeful this legislation will help seniors in need of
rehabilitative care get the treatment they need to improve their quality
of life, and that the inpatient rehabilitational facilities that provide
this care will be supported in their efforts," LoBiondo said.
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