The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) passes requirements for certain insurance plans to cover rehabilitation and habilitation, the habilitation clause resulting from AOTA’s lobbying efforts.

With licensure passage in the Hawaii, OT licensure is achieved in all 50 states and 3 jurisdictions. Implementation of the Excellence in Mental Health Act results in the inclusion of occupational therapy as one of the professions that can be covered under the new Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers. Occupational therapy is included in SAMHSA’s Primary Behavioral Health Integration Grants. AOTA adopts the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 3rd Edition.

New York state passes OTA licensure, achieving licensure this in all 50 states and 3 jurisdictions. AOTA adopts the Distinct Value statement: “Occupational therapy’s distinct value is to improve health and quality of life through facilitating participation and engagement in occupations, the meaningful, necessary, and familiar activities of everyday life.  Occupational therapy is client-centered, achieves positive outcomes, and is cost-effective.” The Every Student Succeeds Act (P.L. 114-95) establishes the term specialized instructional support personnel (SISP), which includes occupational therapy.

An independent study by health policy researchers (Rogers, Bai, Lavin, & Anderson) published in Medical Care Research and Review finds that “occupational therapy is the only spending category where additional spending has a statistically significant association with lower readmission rates” in hospitals for the three health conditions studied. AOTA adopts Vision 2025: “Occupational therapy maximizes health, well-being, and quality of life for all people, populations, and communities through effective solutions that facilitate participation in everyday living.” AOTA attains the membership high milestone of 60,000 members; membership in 1917 was 40.

AOTA celebrates 100 years of the association and the OT profession!