HTS Advocacy in Action: Major Wins in 2025!
In 2025, HTS played a pivotal role in ADVION’s national advocacy initiatives, with Sheena Mattingly, EVP of Quality & Compliance, serving as HTS’s primary representative. Through her leadership, HTS brought real-world insight to national policy discussions, directly impacting long-term care and therapy services.
Key ADVION Advocacy Wins in 2025
Through ADVION, national advocacy led to meaningful improvements for post-acute and long-term care providers:
- Provider Relief: ADVION successfully advocated for a 5% increase to the 2026 conversion factor of the physician fee schedule, supporting financial stability for post-acute and long-term care providers.
- Telehealth: ADVION secured 3 different short-term extensions of telehealth authority, ensuring continued access for patients and therapy services.
- (RTM) & Telehealth: CMS finalized important changes, reducing the RTM reporting window from 16 days to 2–15 days and made all provisional therapy codes permanent on the telehealth list.
- Prior Authorization Relief: UnitedHealthcare now allows 6 therapy visits (PT, OT, SLP) in a beneficiary’s initial plan of care without a clinical review, reducing administrative burden and improving patient access.
HTS Leadership in ADVION
Sheena Mattingly served in multiple leadership roles within ADVION, driving HTS’s influence in national advocacy:
- Member, Data Advocacy Committee: Actively participated in national data advocacy initiatives with the goal of presenting data-driven recommendations to CMS that support the greater good of the long-term care (LTC) community. Contributed clinical, compliance, and operational insight to ensure advocacy efforts reflect real-world provider challenges.
- Chair, Compliance Committee: Led discussions focused on regulatory interpretation, risk mitigation, and compliance best practices, while supporting guidance and education on evolving regulations and enforcement trends.
- Mentor, Emerging Leaders Program: Served for the third consecutive year, providing leadership development, professional guidance, and industry perspective to rising healthcare leaders.
Grassroots Advocacy Efforts
- Protect Medicaid: Advocates sent over 1,500 letters to Members of Congress opposing reductions to Medicaid funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Telehealth & 2025 Physician Fee Schedule: Advocates sent 17,165 letters urging Congress to extend and restore the telehealth authority and provide relief from PFS cuts.
As we reflect on 2025, we are proud of the progress made through our partnership with ADVION and the unwavering dedication of our team. Together, we have strengthened long-term care policies, reduced barriers for therapy services, and supported providers in delivering high-quality care.
HTS remains committed to advancing this work, bringing practical, frontline insight to advocacy initiatives and helping ensure that policies reflect the needs of both providers and patients. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with ADVION and the broader long-term care community to build on these successes and drive even greater impact.
