WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The State
of the Medicare Mobility Benefit has never been more troubling, and
perplexing. For much of the last decade, Congress and regulators
implemented policies and regulations limiting the effectiveness of
the Medicare benefit that is used by senior citizens and people
living with disabilities to obtain power wheelchairs prescribed by
their physicians. But a series of changes ranging from the
so-called competitive bidding program to elimination of the
first-month purchase option to excessive audits and denial of
reimbursement claims are combining to place serious doubt on
whether Medicare beneficiaries can continue to receive medically
required power mobility equipment that enhances their quality of
life and ultimately saves taxpayer dollars.
It’s unfortunate that as we assess the care received by some of
the most vulnerable people in our society, the American Association
for Homecare (AAHomecare) must question the government’s commitment
to them. On July 30, 1965, when President Johnson signed the
Medicare bill into law, he asserted to former President Truman, who
was at his side, “…there is another tradition that we share
today. It calls upon us never to be indifferent toward despair. It
commands us never to turn away from helplessness. It directs us
never to ignore or to spurn those who suffer untended in a land
that is bursting with abundance.”
Yet, it’s clear to many physicians, clinicians, advocates for
people with disabilities and medical equipment providers that in
the coming months the government will not live up to that pledge.
Across the country, especially in rural areas, there will be
Medicare patients holding prescriptions for power wheelchairs who
will be unable to find providers that can supply them with
wheelchairs in a timely manner, and perhaps not at all.
Government policies have jeopardized the sustainability of
many small and family businesses, forcing them
‘/>”/>
