Happy Spring to Everyone!!!

I wanted to send out a quick email update regarding a very important issue taking place currently at the State Capital concerning Physical Therapy.  Our state organization, IPTA, has been working on gaining "direct access" for physical therapy for a number of years.  This would allow consumers to come see a PT directly without having to go to your doctor or chiropractor first and get a prescription for treatment.  Currently, we can only evaluate without a prescription, BUT not treat. This would be huge in many ways:

1. Ease of entry into the medical model after an injury

2. Decreased financial cost to you and the insurance company by not having to pay for an extra visit or two

3. Decreased time saved (less work days missed) by seeing a PT within 1-2 days after injury versus waiting weeks due to seeing primary MD, specialist, getting tests done and then going to PT. 

These are just the main ones, but very important to each and every one of us as the cost of health care has been rising at a crazy rate in the past few years.

Here is a portion of the email that was sent to me late yesterday. 

The Direct Access bill came out of the House Licensed Activities with unanimous support. Amendments have been appended to the legislation, we believe those amendments will satisfy all the objections from several groups.

The next step is a vote by the entire Illinois House of Representatives.  You can find your Representative’s name and contact information at this site:https://www.illinoispolicy.org/maps/illinois-house/ We are asking for a yes vote on HB4643 as amended.  Direct Access will allow the citizens of Illinois unencumber access to physical therapists.Please encourage patients, family, and friends to contact their legislators.

We had a nice response today with over 300 people voicing their support in committee, thank you.  We have several more steps to go as we hope to pass out of the House and then advance to the Senate, we will need your support at each step.

I am asking for your help in getting "Direct Access" in the state of Illinois so myself, colleagues and other PTs can help more people while decreasing the cost of care on you.  Please read the above section, take action and contact you State Representative and ask him/her to Vote "YES" on HB 4643.  Thank you very much.  Please pass this email to family, friends, neighbors and co-workers and don't hesistate to call the clinic with questions. 630-892-8003

With Gratitude,

Joe King and Staff at Physical Therapy Advantage