January 07, 2009

Physical therapy services for Medicare beneficiaries would no longer be limited by arbitrary financial caps under legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act (S 46/HR 43) introduced by Senators John Ensign (R-NV), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Representatives Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Mike Ross (D-AR), and Roy Blunt (R-MO) calls for the repeal of the Medicare therapy caps that limit coverage of outpatient rehabilitation services to $1,840 for physical therapy and speech language pathology combined and $1,840 for occupational therapy services. Full release.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today after the House passed two key government reform bills: the Presidential Records Act Amendments, which restores meaningful public access to presidential records by nullifying a 2001 executive order by President Bush, and the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act, which requires the disclosure of big donors to presidential libraries. Both passed by overwhelming margins, with strong bipartisan support. Full release.

Nearly 100 largely unregulated "wet dumps" across the United States that are comparable to the Tennessee Valley Authority's breached site in Harriman, Tennessee for the storage of toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants have a place on one or more of the "worst site" lists for six toxic metals, including arsenic and lead, according to a new data analysis from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). Full release.

Parents of a child born with cleft lip and palate often have one New Year's resolution, to make sure their child lives a normal life. For some, this year's resolution will be met. Building on a tradition of volunteering and philanthropy, members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) will usher in 2009 by demonstrating, "it is better to give than to receive," by traveling overseas on behalf of several charitable organizations to donate their reconstructive surgical skills to children with facial deformities in developing countries. Plastic surgeons will also teach local physicians techniques to enable them to continue to perform cleft procedures long after they've returned to the U.S. Full release.

AJC strongly condemned the expulsion of Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Cohen from Venezuela. "By expelling the Israeli Ambassador and demanding that Venezuelan Jews denounce what he outrageously calls a 'Holocaust,' Hugo Chavez is fueling hostility against his country's Jewish community, not to mention dangerously distorting the truth on the ground," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. "He is also revealing profound ignorance about the meaning of the Holocaust." Full release

Global Financial Integrity (GFI) released today a study estimating the annual value of illicit financial flows from all poor nations at approximately $900 million. Titled "Illicit Financial Flows From Developing Countries: 2002 - 2006," (http://www.gfip.org/) the ground-breaking report shows that the developing world is losing an increasing amount of money through illicit capital flight each year. Moreover, the value of the illicit flows surpasses the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) entering those countries by an order of magnitude. Full release

In their first six months in office, newly appointed members of the Federal Election Commission have rolled back major precedents and transformed the agency's enforcement policies in key areas, according to a BNA review of FEC documents made public since the new commissioners arrived last summer. Full release

In response to a request from the College Savings Plans Network (CSPN) and other college savings groups, the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued a ruling that allows 529 plan account owners to change their investment strategy twice per calendar year. Section 529 plans are tax-advantaged college savings vehicles which have become the preferred way for Americans to save for college. Full release

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