PURPOSE OF THE COMMITTEE

This committee is charged with monitoring and attending to the needs wants, and challenges of the ATC's in the clinic, industrial, and/or corporate settings.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

MEETINGS

The last meeting was a conference call on November 12, 2006. To see the minutes, go to the Member’s Only section.

H.R. 1846 Medicare Access to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Services Improvement Act (H.R. 1846), introduced in the House by Congressman Ed Towns (NY),  is the bill that replaces the Senate bill 3963 from last year that Congress did not have time to act on.  Every AT and everyone they know, work with, are related to, or meet should sign three of the supportive postcards sponsored by the OATA and send them to each of the 2 Ohio Senators (The Honorable Sherrod Brown and The Honorable George Voinovich) and to their Ohio Representative.   Please download the sample letter that should accompany your postcards explaining why some of them have last year’s senate bill number on them!  You can read more about this important legislative effort on the NATA web in the legislative action section for members only.

NEW Talking Points

ATTENTION ALL OHIO ATHLETIC TRAINERS!

This committee is actively approaching any and all third party payors to seek approval as providers using the brand new informational packets the committee created for this purpose. Any athletic trainer who would like to contact a certain payor is encouraged to contact Darrell Reed, ATC at (216) 595-2880. The following documents are third party reimbursement PDF forms and other fact sheets concerning third party reimbursement. Also, contact the NATA to purchase the billing and reimbursement notebook; it costs $15.00 and tells you everything you need to know.

OHIO BUREAU OF WORKERS COMPENSATION

Licensed Athletic Trainers in the state of Ohio are eligible to be approved providers by the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Thanks to the work of Keith Howell, Teri Angelo, and many others, Athletic trainers are now listed as an approved provider as of September 1, 2003. Remember, however, that you must first be individually approved by Ohio BWC.

As an athletic trainer, YOU MUST SUBMIT AN APPLICATION for Provider Enrollment and Certification AND be individually approved before you are able to begin billing. You can obtain this application by either visiting the BWC website or calling them at 1-800-OHIOBWC. Ask for the Provider Relations Department.

NATIONAL ISSUES

Apply for your NPI number before May, 2007.  All licensed clinicians in Ohio (AT, PT, OT, Speech, etc.) must apply for this number in order to do any billing for services, and it must be by the deadline.  Even if you are in a position currently that does not involve billing, please apply asap.  You may be in a different job later that will involve it and you need to meet this deadline.  It will also make a stronger showing for ATs if we all do this NOW. Click HERE and follow the directions to get started obtaining your NPI (National Provider Identifier) number NOW!

PHYSICIAN EXTENDERS (ppt file)

Lobbying federal legislators is everybody's business ... and NATA encourages members to come to Washington, DC and make an impact.  NATA’s fourth Capitol Hill Day is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 26, 2007. Please Register if you are interested.

A new bill...NATA needs your action now and in the future!  We need every member to support this Bill.  Sign your postcards, get your friends, relatives, co-workers, physicians, etc to sign the postcards and go to the members only section to download the letter that needs to accompany the cards since it explains the change from SB 3963 to HR 1846.  Numbers mean everything to Congress, so get these done asap and mail them in Now!