CMS Won't Process Therapy Claims Without Medicare Extenders

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is refusing to process claims for physical, speech, and occupational therapy, which will prevent seniors from being forced to pay out of pocket if they reach Medicare's annual ceiling of $2,010 for the services, reports Politico Pro . Limits on therapy care are among the set of "Medicare extenders" that expired at the end of 2017 and have not been renewed by Congress. With some seniors expected to hit Medicare's cap beginning in January, the American Physical Therapy Association's Justin Elliott says his organization and others are asking CMS for clarification. CMS says it cannot process claims sooner than 14 days but usually pays them within 30 days. "If legislation regarding the therapy caps is not enacted in this short period of time, then CMS will release and process the therapy claims accordingly," the agency notes on its website. Medicare's limit on how much therapy it would pay for was effected in 1997 but has been overridden by Congress ever since. CMS says it is not holding claims for other Medicare extenders.