Week 1 as the 2025 Posny Scholar

Every new experience comes with a learning curve, and this week I’ve seen firsthand how much goes into advocacy at the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) headquarters. From the outside, it’s easy to focus only on the big legislative pushes. But after my first few days as the 2025 Alexa Posny Scholar, I’ve realized advocacy also depends on the steady, day-to-day work happening inside APTA—from Government Affairs to grassroots engagement and everything in between.

Settling in has been smooth overall. The team here is excellent—supportive, collaborative and clearly passionate about what they do. The APTA headquarters building itself is designed with health in mind, offering spaces that make collaboration natural and wellness part of the workday. On the personal side, I’ve been adjusting to driving in DMV traffic while staying at a friend’s apartment—a big shift from not driving at all a few weeks ago during my clinical rotation in Bethel, Alaska!

Government Affairs and Grassroots

One of my early takeaways this week is understanding the difference between the Government Affairs team and the grassroots team. While they overlap and collaborate daily, each plays a unique role in advocacy:

• Government Affairs: Made up of professional lobbyists with years of Capitol Hill experience in law, policy, and politics. They attend daily events with members of Congress, collaborate with other healthcare lobbyists, and directly advance APTA’s policy agenda. They’re the boots on the ground in Washington.
• Grassroots: Focused on mobilizing APTA’s members—PTs, PTAs and patients—into action. They recognize that modern practice is extremely time demanding across all PT scopes, and that many clinicians and students face financial constraints from tuition and today’s economy. The grassroots team works hard to create innovative, quick and simple ways for members to participate meaningfully in advocacy, even with limited time or resources.

Both groups complement each other, and seeing the important work done by both has emphasized how deeply advocacy impacts clinical practice—and why being an active member of the association matters.

First Event on the Hill

This week, I joined APTA lobbyists at an event hosted by the Republican Governance Group, a caucus of moderate House Republicans. Although Congress was delayed on the floor and members couldn’t make it, I still had the chance to meet advocates from organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA), American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA), and American Academy of Neurology (AAN). It was a valuable networking opportunity and the first of many events I’ll attend in the weeks ahead.

Key Issues in Play

Here are a few of the active priorities I’ve discussed this week:

• Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act: pushing for an inflationary update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).
• Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act: giving PTs more flexibility in coverage during unexpected provider absences.
• Telehealth: keeping PTs as authorized providers in Medicare beyond the September 30 expiration.

Telehealth in particular stood out to me, since I saw its value firsthand in rural western Alaska. With the right resources, progressive rehabilitation can be delivered virtually, helping bridge access gaps in isolated communities. DPTs are also trained far beyond the musculoskeletal system and can identify red flag symptoms—even through telehealth—ensuring patients are referred appropriately to physicians or emergency care when needed. Other important conversations included challenges within the TRICARE system affecting providers and military families, and expanding PT participation in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). You can read more about APTA’s current advocacy issues here.

Student Advocacy Spotlight

For students, one of the easiest ways to get involved is the upcoming APTA Flash Action Strategy, happening September 17–18. This two-day event mobilizes students nationwide to use email and social media to reach members of Congress. This year’s focus is the SAFE Act (H.R. 1171/S. 2612), which would promote referrals to PT when fall risk is identified during CMS annual wellness visits. Falls are a major driver of both medical complications and healthcare costs, and this bill could be a meaningful step forward in prevention.

Submitting letters to Congress during events like this helps build co-sponsorship, which is critical for moving a bill toward law. The APTA works in a strategic bipartisan manner to keep bills progressing efficiently through Congress.

Many of these advocacy priorities make immediate sense to PT students and licensed professionals—but, just like with patients, legislators and policymakers need clear professional education before action can happen. At the end of the day, advocacy is education at its core. Thanks for following along, and I look forward to sharing more of this journey with you. Feel free to reach out!