Medicare puts stop to payments for power wheelchairs

[Judi Lynn]

March 2, 2004, 12:26AM

Medicare puts stop to payments for power wheelchairs
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Medicare is refusing to pay for Andy Campbell's recently delivered $6,242 motorized wheelchair despite the advanced prostate cancer and heart disease that make his every step painful.

Campbell, a former California police officer who lives in Henderson, Nev., will not be stuck with the bill under Medicare rules. Unless the government changes its mind, the Scooter Store, based in New Braunfels, Texas, will absorb the loss.

The medical equipment company and four other businesses are undertaking a national lobbying campaign, starting with a commit-ment of about $250,000, to challenge Medicare's new get-tough policy on reimbursements for power wheelchairs.

The coalition says companies will be reluctant to provide the wheelchairs without any upfront payments from the patient.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2428186
(free, quick registration required)

[spinbaby]

1. What caused this problem...

Companies have been agressively marketing power chairs and scooters to people who do not actually need them. You've seen the commercials. Medicare has been cracking down. The unfortunate result of this exercise in free marketing is that many people who actually need power wheelchairs are having trouble getting them. The chair company's response, of course, will be to have their PR folks trot out heartbreaking stories about people who are denied wheelchairs.

[NashVegas]

10. That And More

I've seen a range of items advertised, with the claim, "and we'll show you how to get Medicare to pay for it."

[BiggJawn]

2. How much would those scooters cost if insurance didn't pay for them?

$6,200? I would venture a guess that I could buy all the parts retail, have the frame custom welded, double what I had in it and still not be at $6,200.

I wonder how much abuse there is with the acquisition of these scooters? I have diabetes and high blood pressure, bet I could find some doctor to prescribe me a scooter and parking tag.
But where would I park the thing, amongst all my bicycles? :-)

[DarkPhenyx]

3. *soft chuckle*

Stay active man. Go down fighting. It's the only way. :)

[cid]

4. I had to get my mother one after her stroke as she didnt have the

strength in her arms to move a normal one and couldnt walk. Cost 4,200, but that was 5 years ago..Medicare paid for it. Darn thing would go up to 4 miles an hour and she was a holy terror in it. For some, its the only answer for mobility.

[Hand]

9. Heh heh...

There's a nursing home down the road from us. Every so often the feistier old guys break out and tear down the street in their powered wheelchairs with big grins and flags flying from the back. They're a trip!

:toast:

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Leave it to Bush to pull something like this.

What's Next? Are they going to start kicking the crutches out from under cripples or move the furniture around on the blind?
How many wheel chairs could be bought with the tax cut that Bill Gates or Warren Buffet got?

[Dogmudgeon]

6. All medical devices are like this

TENS units: $5 of parts, available off-market for under $50, but covered under insurance for $500-$2000.

CPAP (breathing assistance for sleep apnea): $20 of parts, covered for $1000 and up.

Oxygen tubing: Pennies worth of plastic, sold for $10-50 per two-meter run.

Acetaminophen/Paracetamol (generic Tylenol): On Rx, $2 per 500 mg tablet is typical.

Single-channel amplifying hearing aid: $5 of parts, some are available off-market at about $100, sold on Rx for $1500 and up.

There's always a good excuse, but never a good solution.

--bkl

[BiggJawn]

7. Like $600 hammers and $400 toilet seats, eh?

Why does plastic hose cost $10 a foot? Because the Insurance company will pay that.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. You got it!

They pay the providers -- and bring the hammer down on the patients.

--bkl