Rehabilitative Therapy Practices NAICS 621340

Jan 11, 2026 - Alternative Payment Models may Benefit Industry

• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has introduced two Alternative Payment Models that present an opportunity to showcase the benefits of physical therapist services, according to the American Physical Therapy Association. The Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions, or ACCESSS, model pays providers for measurable outcomes through technology-enabled care for patients in traditional Medicare with qualifying conditions. There are four tracks that ACCESS will focus on, representing many of the most common chronic health conditions, including early cardio-kidney-metabolic conditions, cardio-kidney-metabolic conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, and behavioral health conditions. Care may be provided in person or through various technology-based approaches, including virtual and asynchronous methods. The Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence, or MAHA ELEVATE, model provides approximately $100 million to fund cooperative agreements for up to 30 proposals that promote health and disease prevention for traditional Medicare beneficiaries. The areas of focus include nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, harmful substance avoidance, and social connection.
• Legislation ending the federal government shutdown will extend Medicare coverage of telehealth services through January 30, 2026, and will pay retroactively for services rendered during the shutdown. Rehabilitative therapy practices are likely to benefit from the extension. The COVID-era federal government program that expanded access to telehealth expired on September 30, 2025. The program lost funding when lawmakers failed to pass a budget plan by September 30, 2025. Restrictions on who could get telehealth services covered by Medicare were tighter before the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual healthcare appointments were mostly reserved for beneficiaries living in rural areas, provider facilities in rural areas, or those working with certain types of providers. Some pandemic-driven changes were permanent but others rely on temporary waivers to operate. Some of these temporary allowances included the ability to use telehealth services from anywhere without geographic restrictions, to have appointments in audio-only formats, and to receive mental health and behavioral healthcare virtually without regular in-person appointments.

• The physical therapist workforce shortage is likely to continue through 2037, according to The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). These shortages could significantly affect patient access to timely care without strategic interventions. "The growing demand for physical therapist services, coupled with an aging workforce, underscore the necessity for targeted interventions to expand our workforce," the APTA notes.
• Rehabilitative therapy industry employment and average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first eight months of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rehabilitative therapy practice sales are forecast to grow at a 6.08% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, faster than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.