Millions of Americans can’t walk without physical therapy. Here’s how it’s done

Millions of Americans rely on physical and occupational therapists to regain strength and motor skills after operations, diseases, and injuries.

But recoveries are routinely stymied by a widespread constraint in health insurance policies: rigid caps on therapy sessions.

Insurers frequently limit such sessions to as few as 20 a year, a KFF Health News examination finds.

Mari Villar was 15 when a car leaped over a curb and smashed into her in May 2023 .

She broke both her legs, lacerated her liver, damaged her colon, severed an artery in her right leg, and collapsed her lung.

By the end of 2023 , she had used up the 30 physical therapy and 30 occupational therapy visits the Blue Cross plan allowed.

Most people who use all their sessions either stop going or pay out-of-pocket for extra therapy.

Marjorie Haney’s insurance plan covered 20 therapy sessions a year, but Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield approved only a few visits at a time for the rotator cuff she tore in a bike accident.

Maine passed a law banning prior authorization for the first 12 rehab visits, making it one of the few states to curb insurer limitations on physical therapy.