Congress needs to hear from the disability community over payment coverage of manual wheelchairs

With only 16 working days left before Congress calls it a year, the disability community is being called on to make their representatives aware of the importance of the passage of a bill that would stop Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from inappropriately using Medicare Competitive Bidding Program (CBP) pricing to cut payment amounts for critical components (a/k/a accessories) used with Complex Rehab for manual wheelchairs.

Congress passed temporary delays in 2015 and 2016 and then in 2017 Senators Bob Casey (D‐PA) and Rob Portman (R‐OH), along with Representatives Lee Zeldin (R‐NY) and John Larson (D‐CT), introduced legislation to provide a permanent fix. These bills garnered strong bipartisan support and finished 2018 with 25 and 123 cosponsors, respectively.

CMS partially solved the problem in 2017 by publishing a policy clarification stating it would not use CBP pricing for accessories used with Complex Rehab “power” wheelchairs. This resolved the issue for Group 3 Complex Rehab power wheelchairs but did not extend relief to the same critical components/ accessories when used with Complex Rehab “manual” wheelchairs. CBP pricing continues to be inappropriately applied to these items. This creates a major disparity in that people with disabilities who use Complex Rehab manual wheelchairs have less access to critical components than those using Complex Rehab power wheelchairs.

You only need to invest 60 seconds to fill out an online petition that would be sent to your representative in support of the bill. To access the site, go HERE.