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S 493 108th Congress Senate

Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2003

Official title: A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to authorize physical therapists to evaluate and treat medicare beneficiaries without a requirement for … Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to authorize physical therapists to evaluate and treat medicare beneficiaries without a requirement for a physician referral, and for other purposes.

Introduced: June 23, 2003 See on congress.gov
Health Ambulatory careMedicarePhysical therapyPhysicians
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Social WelfareSpeech disorders
This bill died when the 108th Congress ended
It never became law before the 108th Congress (2003–2004) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 27, 2003
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Feb 27, 2003
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2977-2978)
Feb 27, 2003
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action February 27, 2003

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service
Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to authorize qualified physical therapists to provide services for Medicare beneficiaries without the requirement of a physician referral.

Provides for treatment of outpatient speech-language pathology services separately from outpatient physical therapy services.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 493: Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2003. 108th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-493/
MLA
"S. 493: Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2003." 108th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-493/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 493, 108th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-493/.
Markdown link
[S. 493: Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2003](https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-493/)
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