With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare, set to go into full effect in 2014, many patients are expressing concerns for what the impact will be on their physical therapy benefits. And many physical therapists are wondering what effect it will have on their ability to provide quality patient care.   

Under ObamaCare, health care providers (us) are now required to follow additional Medicare documentation procedures with additional non-reimbursable coding that distracts from the task at hand, which is caring for our patients. What the Medicare population (you) is finding out is that each time they enter a provider's office, they are spending less time with the provider and more time filling out paperwork.    

Precise additional documentation is expected to become even more important for reimbursements as ObamaCare goes into full effect next year.  

According to the American Physical Therapy Association, the new ObamaCare requirements facilitate the intention of Medicare to use this requested additional information to reform the future payment process for outpatient therapy services. 

So far we see that ObamaCare has put in place paper obstacles to make it difficult for Medicare patients to receive or access their Medicare benefits. Medicare recipients and health care providers are currently being asked to fill out more paperwork, and are told after the fact that the claim was denied.

The Medicare patient is then not responsible for the bill. Instead, the provider is expected to "eat" the claim. And at the same time, this past April 2013, provider reimbursements were reduced 25 percent.  

It is this type of policy that is forcing providers out of the Medicare system, leaving Medicare recipients with shrinking options for treatment and care.