Advocacy Wins In October of 2020, VOTA board members voted to join a collaborative initiative between AOTA and NBCOT to pass legislation forming an interstate professional licensing compact for licensure portability for OT practitioners. The compact provides licensed occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants with the opportunity to practice in the states within the compact without having to secure a new license in each of these states. Through funding and efforts from VOTA and our lobbyists, Senator Ghaza Hashmi introduced the bill for enacting the licensure compact in Virginia. On March 18th, 2021 Senate Bill 1189 passed, making Virginia the first state to successfully pass licensure compact legislation. Virginia Becomes First State to Enact Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact | AOTA In February 2022 the 10th state enacted the licensing compact with others planned to follow. The 20th state, South Carolina, signed on May 13, 2022. The OT Compact Commission is scheduled to convene later this summer to establish rules and implement the data system in order to begin issuing compact privileges to practice occupational therapy. Once the commission convenes it is expected to take 12 to 18 months to operationalize the compact. Find more on the compact here. An interstate licensing compact will:
Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact | AOTA For more information on the current state of the licensure compact, please use the following link: otcompact.org | Current Initiatives We are currently seeking a new legislative liaison to spearhead our legislative efforts! Please email Savanah if you want to learn more about this role! Meet our Lobbyist National Legislative News Effective Jan 1, 2022 new legislation was enacted that affected billing for OTAs. AOTA has been taking action in order to protect OTA billing. For more information, please visit AOTA's page: Capital Report: Congress Introduces Legislation to Protect OTAs From Pending Medicare Cuts | AOTA (you will need to be an AOTA member to login.) Support our legislative efforts! Click here to contribute to our Legislative Services Fund. |