Advocacy win: Your letters helped the profession #SaveOMT

The voice of more than 5,000 DOs, osteopathic medical students and patients have been heard by Medicare billing contractor National Government Services (NGS). This week, NGS released a plan to appropriately pay for osteopathic manipulative treatment for Medicare beneficiaries.

In July, the AOA and its affiliate partners led an advocacy campaign to express opposition to a proposal from NGS that would have severely limited payment for OMT and restricted access to it for Medicare beneficiaries in 10 states. The Save OMT grassroots campaign generated thousands of letters from the osteopathic medical profession.

The persistence paid off, as NGS has issued a significantly revised coverage policy for OMT that uses nearly all of the language the AOA had proposed in its comment letter. This means DOs will be appropriately paid for providing OMT to Medicare patients, and patient access will be preserved.

The AOA thanks those who engaged in this advocacy effort to preserve the profession’s osteopathic identity and to ensure access to care for patients.