Dear Honorable Congress Representatives of West Virginia:

My name is Danny Pettry. I’m a constituent (Dis-3) who works as a Mental Health Practitioner in Huntington, West Virginia.

I’ve created this petition to request your support of H.R. 1906 and ask you to sign on as a co-sponsor as soon as possible.

The people who have signed this petition (mostly are constituents / West Virginia citizens) are also asking for your support.

I am contacting you in regards to the Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Therapy Act of 2015 (H.R. 1906). As a constituent in your district and a recreational therapist, H.R. 1906 is very important to me. The purpose of this Act is to return the ability of rehabilitation physicians and treatment teams to use their professional judgment to provide patients in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals (IRFs) with the appropriate mix of medically necessary rehabilitation therapy services. These services include physical therapy, occupational therapy, and, as needed, speech therapy, orthotics and prosthetics, and recreational therapy. By including recreational therapy under the intensity of therapy requirement applicable to IRFs, Medicare beneficiaries in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units will regain access to the mix of rehabilitation therapies that meets their specific needs as determined by their physician and treatment team, not arbitrary, bureaucratic rules. IRFs will be better able to meet the intensity of rehabilitation therapy requirement, thus reducing the risk that patients will be inappropriately diverted into less intensive post-acute settings.

Specifically, the bill adds the following new paragraph to the end of Section 1886(j) of the Social Security Act:

“(9) Including Recreational Therapy among the therapy modalities that constitute an intensive rehabilitation therapy program in a rehabilitation facility. – The Secretary shall include recreational therapy services among the therapeutic modalities that constitute an intensive rehabilitation program in determining (pursuant to applicable regulations) whether inpatient services in a rehabilitation facility are reasonable and necessary under section 1862(a)(1)(A).”

Attached is a copy of H.R. 1906 as well as a letter from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in support of H.R. 1906. Several organizations have joined this coalition in supporting this bill including the: American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association; American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists; American Therapeutic Recreation Association; Brain Injury Association of America; CARF, International (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities); Council on Brain Injury and United Spinal Association. I am requesting your support of H.R. 1906 and ask you to sign on as a co-sponsor. If you wish to do so, please contact Matt Brennen (202) 225-5121 in Congressman Thompson’s office or Saul Hernandez (202) 225-3101 in Congressman Butterfield’s office. {D0598402.DOCX / 2 } Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or need additional information. I will follow up with you regarding your decision on supporting H.R. 1906 in the near future.