Headline News
Committee Sets Webinars on Separate Rehab Benefit
WASHINGTON — With an industry steering committee and commission of a study on how best to go about it, advocates are moving ahead on exploration and development of a separate Medicare benefit for complex rehab.
Chaired by Don Clayback, executive director of the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology, the committee includes:
- Gary Gilberti, president of Chesapeake Rehab Equipment in Baltimore, and Rita Hostak, vice president of government affairs at Sunrise Medical, Longmont, Colo., representing NCART;
- Tim Pederson, CEO of WestMed Rehab, Rapid City, S.D., and chair of AAHomeCare's Complex Rehab and Mobility Council (CRMC), and Walt Gorski, vice president, representing the American Association for Homecare;
- Simon Margolis, executive director, representing the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers (NRRTS);
- Elizabeth Cole, director of clinical rehab services at the VGM Group in Waterloo, Iowa, representing the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA); and
- Laura Cohen, PT, PhD, ATP, a research scientist at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, who will serve as a clinical advisor.
The steering committee, which Clayback noted wants as much input from as broad a spectrum of rehab stakeholders as possible, will provide information on its progress and ask for feedback through two upcoming Webinars called "Understanding the Separate Complex Rehab Benefit Initiative Under Medicare." The first is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Wednesday (Sept. 30) and the second for 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Attendance is open and there is no charge. Advance registration is required, however, at www2.gotomeeting.com/register/369004210 for the Wednesday event or at www2.gotomeeting.com/register/788975666 for the Oct. 8 session.
The dialog will continue at Medtrade, which takes place Oct. 12-15 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
In an NCART update session on Wednesday, Oct. 14, Clayback will detail the results of a study commissioned from Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Avalere Health on whether a regulatory or legislative route — or a combination of the two — would work best in pushing the separate benefit proposal forward.
