Dealing with Chronic Pain

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Now we wait for the Senate and House of Reps to override Bush's stupidity.

Today President George W. Bush vetoed HR 6331 �?the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (HR 6331). Both the House of Representatives and the Senate will now have to override the presidential veto by a 2/3’s vote in both chambers. Previously, on July 10 the United States Senate passed HR 6331 �?the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act by a 69-30 margin. Also HR 6331 overwhelming passed by a 355-59 margin in the US House on Tuesday, June 24^th. If both the House of Representatives and the Senate override the presidential veto, the 10.6% reduction in the physician fee schedule and the arbitrary $1810 therapy cap will be replaced with the previous .5% increase in 2008 and a 1.1% increase in 2009 in the fee schedule and an 18 month extension of the therapy cap exceptions process.<O:P></O:P>

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Critical provisions for physical therapists and their patients in this legislation are in the above mentioned update in payment under the Medicare physician fee schedule for the rest of 2008 and 2009, the extension of the therapy cap exceptions process, a delay in competitive bidding for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS), and payments updates to rural providers.

George W. Bush has used the veto power 11 times.

He's vetoed the Stem cell research enhancement Act twice; Veteran's care once, Children's health insurance twice; the farm bill twice; appropriations for Health and Human services, Department of Labor and Dept of Edcucation once; National defence act once; Intellegence authorization once; and finally the Medicare bill mentioned above. I think that's 11. (source Wikipeda - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_vetoes)

Note that 9 of the 11 vetoes were for bills that were aimed at services for the people of the United States, children or disadvantaged. This is our "Compassionate conservative". Good grief, I would hate to see a conservative without any compassion.

I think we can agree this man has been a disaster for this country. Well, most of us can. There are still a few out there who like him despite all the evidence that points to his imcompetence; his selling out to big business/oil; and his inability to take any constructive criticism and make any changes whatsoever once he has made up his mind, even if it's blatantly obvious he's wrong, and to continue what he's doing is going to lead to disaster.

The tax cuts are a perfect example. He wants to make them permenant, in the face of the largest deficit in the history of the country and a recession, or I should say another recession. I mean, that's just nuts. And please don't give me supply side economics. It didn't work for Regan, it didn't work for Dubya, and it won't work for McBush. It leads to deficit spending, recessions and high jobless rates.

I could go on, but this isn't good for my blood pressure. LOL

Should I tell you how I really feel?

P.S. Did I tell you???? My mom, dad, and sister are all in the process of getting their american citizenship. My mom get's sworn-in next week! That's three more smart people that will help get Obama into office, and hopefully turn this country around.

OH...and by the way, the people of Congress haven't all lost their minds. Here's the latest update :) Too bad they couldn't have overriden the other 10 vetoes!

Dear APTA member:<O:P></O:P>

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Please join me in taking a few moments to celebrate a tremendous victory. By now you may be aware that Congress voted overwhelmingly yesterday to override President Bush’s veto and enact HR 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act—legislation that, among its many provisions, restores the exceptions process for the Medicare therapy cap and prevents devastating cuts in Medicare payments to physical therapists and other providers. The votes taken Tuesday simply could not have been more important to physical therapists and the patients we serve. Without enactment of this law, it is likely that thousands of Medicare beneficiaries would have been denied access to the physical therapy services they need, and hundreds of physical therapists would have had to consider closing their practices.<O:P></O:P>

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I can’t tell you how proud I am to be part of an Association that worked so tirelessly to pass this legislation and keep its members informed during a process with countless ups and downs. This success would have been impossible without the amazing grassroots advocacy efforts of APTA members like you who took time away from their practices to contact members of Congress and talk with their patients about getting involved. Since June 1, APTA members sent more that 12,300 e-mails through APTA’s <ST1:PLACENAME w:st="on">Legislative</ST1:PLACENAME> <ST1:PLACENAME w:st="on">Action</ST1:PLACENAME> <ST1:PLACETYPE w:st="on">Center</ST1:PLACETYPE> and more than 6,200 e-mails from patients were sent through the <ST1:PLACE w:st="on"><ST1:PLACENAME w:st="on">Patient</ST1:PLACENAME> <ST1:PLACENAME w:st="on">Action</ST1:PLACENAME> <ST1:PLACETYPE w:st="on">Center</ST1:PLACETYPE></ST1:PLACE> on APTA’s Consumer Web site. As usual, APTA staff did an unbelievable job—from Justin Moore, Rachel Reiter, Mike Matlack, Shay Rogers, and the Government and Payment Advocacy unit to staff in Communications, Web Services, Information Technology, Member Services, and Component Services, everyone put in countless hours and tireless efforts to give APTA members up-to-the-moment, accurate information to manage this difficult situation.<O:P></O:P>

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I am constantly amazed by the dedication, determination, and commitment of the members and staff of this Association to the advancement of our profession and the care of the patients we serve. I’ve never been more proud to be an APTA member than I am today. I hope you can find a moment or two to celebrate this wonderful victory with your patients and your colleagues—and thank you for making it possible through your membership and participation in APTA.<O:P></O:P>

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Sincerely,<O:P></O:P>

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R Scott Ward, PT, PhD<O:P></O:P>

President<O:P></O:P>

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I have to say the more I hear Obama, the more impressed I am with him. The big thing for me, of course is that he's not taking any corportate money. So he will be the first president in many, many years who won't be beholden to the fat cats who think they own this country and that they can get whatever they want if they put enough money on it.

Of course, there will be an attempt to "Swift Boat" him. They're already using his association with his former pastor to try to hurt him. But if you listen to him, really listen to him, you'll hear a lot of good things.

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