Huge Cuts In Medicare Mobility Equipment Prices Will Restrict Access For Medicar

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Huge Cuts In Medicare Mobility Equipment Prices Will Restrict Access

For Medicare Beneficiaries

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=53597

Manufacturers and suppliers of power wheelchairs today assailed cuts

of 21% to 41% in Medicare payments for power wheelchairs, saying the

reductions would force suppliers out of business, cause lay-offs

throughout the industry, and restrict access to mobility equipment

for senior citizens and people living with disabilities.

The reimbursement cuts, announced by the Centers for Medicare &

Medicaid Services (CMS), hit particularly hard at the most

sophisticated mobility equipment, which is needed by people with the

most severe physical disabilities. For instance, a supplier who has

been receiving a $6,500 reimbursement from Medicare for one such

wheelchair will only receive $3,800 after the new pricing is

effective on November 15.

" The problem that CMS doesn't understand is that we don't have

anything to cut, " declared Carol Gilligan, President of Health Aide,

of Ohio, Cleveland, OH. " At these reduced rates, the cost of

acquiring a wheelchair, fitting the patient, servicing the chair and

doing the documentation paper work will exceed the amount that

Medicare will pay for the chair. We can't stay in business operating

in the red. Patients are not going to have outlets to get the

mobility equipment that they need. "

Industry officials said the underlying problem is that as the

American society ages, there has been a significant increase in

demand for power wheelchairs and scooters by a population that wants

to remain as independent and as mobile as possible. CMS has reported

a 2,700% increase in utilization over the past eight years. However,

over the last three years CMS has responded to the increased demand

for mobility equipment with a series of policy, rule and pricing

changes that appear to be aimed at restricting beneficiary access to

mobility equipment, crippling the industry that supplies it, and

restraining costs.

" What we have is a regulatory body that has been focused on

restricting access to the benefit, " said Meuser, CEO of Pride

USA, a major manufacturer of mobility equipment. " Now, they have gone

too far. The message from these price cuts is that CMS no longer

wants the most physically disabled person in our society to have

access to a power wheelchair through Medicare that will help him or

her perform essential daily activities, such as grooming, preparing

food and going to the bathroom. Medicare is turning their backs on

the people who need help the most. "

Mr. Meuser maintained that Congress and the Administration will hear

strong protests from advocates for people with disabilities, as well

as clinicians and physicians.

" We expect serious access issues for consumers with severe

disabilities, as well as seniors with mobility impairments, " said Mal

Mixon, Chairman and CEO of Invacare Corp., another major

manufacturer. " We have an Americans with Disabilities Act that is

supposed to ensure the highest quality of life possible for people

living with disabilities. Yet, this Administration's payment policy

for power wheelchairs will effectively prevent people with

disabilities from being able to obtain the power wheelchair they need

to get around in their homes, as well as in their communities. "

Moreover, stakeholders say that CMS has taken a very shortsighted

view because Medicare beneficiaries with power mobility equipment

save the Medicare system millions of dollars because they require

less homecare, hospitalization and emergency treatment from falls,

and fall related injuries. Studies show that people living with

physical impairments who do not have power wheelchairs cost the

Medicare system an average of $14,000 more per person than those with

a power wheelchair or scooter.

The most immediate impact from the new pricing schedule will be felt

by people like Bergantino, President of ATG Connecticut Rehab,

in Newington, Ct.

Mr. Bergantino has been supplying power wheelchairs for 16 years. But

now he worries not only about whether his business can continue, but

how senior citizens and people living with disabilities in his

community will get access to power wheelchairs.

" Clearly, CMS does not understand the human side of this issue, " Mr.

Bergantino said. " Our business is about providing a high level of

skilled care to those in society whom require power mobility and

other assistive technologies. There is a cost to providing such a

complex product, evaluations, fittings, technical service, and in

documenting it all in a highly compliant manner. Nevertheless, we

love our patients and the outcome of our work. The really sad thing

is this: we likely won't be here to give them that level of care.

Medicare has abandoned them. "

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