PORTLAND, Maine - New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland announced its appreciation to Senators Collins and Snowe and Congressmen Allen and Michaud for their efforts on behalf of patients in our community. Largely as a result of their co-sponsorship of the Preserving Patient Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals Act of 2007, Congress recently passed the "Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007." The bill includes language that would permanently freeze the implementation of the 75% Rule at the 60 percent threshold level, and would allow patients' secondary medical conditions, or "comorbidities," to continue serving as a basis for access to inpatient rehabilitation care and services. The 75% Rule is a federal policy which imposes restrictions on the types of medical conditions that can be treated in an inpatient rehabilitation setting.

"We'd like to commend Senators Collins and Snowe and Congressmen Allen and Michaud for their work with members of both parties to achieve a bipartisan solution to this issue, eliminating numerous problems for hospitals, doctors and most importantly, patients in our community and across the country," said Amy Morse, CEO of New England Rehabilitation Hospital. "Every patient deserves access to the highest quality rehabilitative health care. In the absence of the recently passed bill, many patients who need our services might not have been able to receive them due to the effects of the 75 Percent Rule, even if that treatment was recommended by their doctors. By freezing the implementation of this rule at the 60 percent level, access to inpatient rehabilitative healthcare will be available to more patients who need it."

New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland, located at 335 Brighton Avenue, is Maine's only freestanding acute rehabilitation hospital. New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland is a 100-bed, state-licensed, JCAHO-accredited facility specializing in physical rehabilitation for stroke, orthopedic, brain injury, amputee, spinal cord injury, oncology and general rehabilitation in both inpatient and outpatient settings. New England Rehabilitation Hospital is jointly owned and operated by Maine Medical Center and HealthSouth. Maine Medical Center, the largest hospital in Maine, is both a teaching hospital and an active research center, providing comprehensive services in all medical specialties. HealthSouth is one of the nation's largest providers of inpatient rehabilitative healthcare services.