New President and Congress: Incoming President Donald Trump will be inaugurated on January 20th while the 119th Congress has just been sworn-in and will begin its work immediately. The first order of business was to elect a Speaker of the House and that occurred Friday, January 3rd on the first ballot. The vote could not have been closer, with incumbent Speaker, Mike Johnson, (R-LA) achieving the 218 votes he needed to be reelected to that position. The fact that the vote had to be held open while Republican leaders convinced two Republican hold-outs to vote for Johnson is foreshadowing for the difficult task that lies ahead for House Republicans to execute on the Trump agenda. To get bills through the House, it is likely that some Democrats will routinely need to be convinced to support GOP priorities, which is another way of saying that bipartisanship will be necessary in many instances.
Expect O&P to Have to Play Some Defense: In addition to a flurry of Executive Orders that are expected to be issued on Day One of his presidency and will likely impact health care, President Trump is expected to press for a reconciliation bill (or bills) that will extend the Trump tax cuts and seek hundred of billions, if not, trillions of dollars in government savings. This cannot be achieved without impacting entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, although the incoming President has promised to protect Social Security. The O&P community—and all health care provider organizations—will be playing defense during this debate to try to hold off efforts to cut or freeze the Medicare fee schedules or save money in other ways, including potential expansion of competitive bidding.
O&P Legislative Priorities for 2025: NAAOP is taking stock of its proactive legislative priorities for the coming Congress and working with the O&P Alliance organizations and leaders in the field to help set these priorities, including the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act, the Veterans SPORT Act, and advocacy to fund O&P outcomes research through the Department of Defense. NAAOP members with viewpoints on our policy priorities should communicate with NAAOP leadership in the coming weeks either directly or through our website.
CMS to Bolster O&P Practitioner Notes: In mid-December, CMS responded to a request from NAAOP and the O&P Alliance to bolster the Medicare Program Integrity Manual by including references to statutory language enacted several years ago to recognize the clinical notes of the prosthetist or orthotist in determining the medical necessity of O&P care. This should help better define O&P medical necessity and provide added professional recognition to certified and licensed O&P professionals, further distinguishing O&P care from durable medical equipment.
NAAOP Breece Fellowship: NAAOP will host its 8th George and Dena Breece Fellow this coming summer. The Breece Fellowship is an annual, paid, summer fellowship in Washington, DC, where an individual with limb loss or limb difference experiences first-hand the process of advocating and seeking to improve O&P policy in the context of the broader health and disability agenda. The deadline for Breece Fellowship Applications is Monday, January 20th at 12:00 Midnight. If you know someone who would be a good candidate for the Breece Fellowship, please share with them this information and direct them to our website at www.NAAOP.org.
Thank you for your membership and support of NAAOP! As we embark on our 38th year working to improve O&P to benefit patients and the providers who serve them, we remind our members that government affairs is all we do!
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