AMRPA Joins Other Post-Acute Care Leaders in Support of H.R. 2455, The Resetting the IMPACT ACT (TRIA) of 2021
 Bill critical lessons learned from the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency will inform post-acute care payment reform

(WASHINGTON – May 11, 2021) – The American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA), American Health Care Association (AHCA), LeadingAge, National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), and National Association of Long-Term Hospitals (NALTH) joined forces to express their support for H.R. 2455, The Resetting the IMPACT ACT (TRIA) of 2021.

After affirming their respective support for amending the IMPACT Act implementation timeline, the four associations are jointly commending Representatives Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) for their recent introduction of H.R. 2455.  The bill would provide much-needed relief to all post-acute care (PAC) providers as they collectively navigate the COVID-19 public health emergency’s (PHE) impact, while also adapting to significant payment reforms implemented in the past few years. 

“As our groups collaborate with congressional health leaders to determine the best path forward for post-acute care reform in the PHE aftermath, your effort to reset the IMPACT Act implementation timeframe is a commonsense, yet critical, first step,” say the associations in their letter.

In 2014, Congress passed the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014, or “IMPACT Act,” to assess a unified payment prototype for PAC services. The legislation predated major changes to each PAC payment system, and of course, the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The five associations applaud Representatives Sewell and Buchanan for recognizing how these issues necessitate a “reset” of the IMPACT Act timeline. In AMRPA’s separate letter of support, Anthony Cuzzola, Chair of the AMRPA Board of Directors, agrees that inpatient rehabilitation hospitals have been on the frontlines of their communities’ COVID-19 response and provided much-needed hospital-level care to patients that helped to alleviate overcrowded short-term acute hospitals. Inpatient rehabilitation hospitals have experienced increased costs due to staff shortages, personal protective equipment requirements, and essential environmental modification costs (e.g., the conversion of double rooms to single occupancy, installation of infection control barriers and the like). Using any affected financial or operational data to model a payment prototype while the disruptive impact of the PHE is in effect would raise serious concerns for all PAC providers.

Timely and effective patient access to the most appropriate PAC services will be especially critical in the coming years. In their joint letter, the organizations assert that “any post-acute care reform must be informed by the critical lessons learned from the PHE, and, just as importantly, assessed at a time when the major stakeholders have the capacity and bandwidth to engage in its potential development. TRIA of 2021 aligns precisely with this goal,” say the associations in their letter.

The full text of AMRPA’s letter in support of TRIA of 2021 is available here, and the full text of the AMRPA, AHCA, LeadingAge, NAHC and NALTH joint letter of support is available here.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Julia Scott
Marketing Communications Coordinator
American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association
(202) 207-1110 | [email protected]