MWC Accessories Bill to Drop in U.S. House

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Aug 10, 2017

The complex rehab technology (CRT) industry can expect a manual wheelchair accessories bill to be introduced soon in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In an early-August news announcement, NCART said it expected the bill to drop after Congress returns from its summer recess after Labor Day.

The bill would prevent the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from using Medicare competitive bidding-derived pricing to set allowables for accessories used on CRT manual wheelchairs.

CMS agreed in June not to use competitive bidding pricing to set allowables for accessories used on CRT power wheelchairs. But those same accessories, when used on manual CRT wheelchairs instead, are still subject to funding cuts that went into effect this summer.

Representatives John Larson (D-Conn.) and Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) will introduce the bill, said NCART Executive Director Don Clayback: “This will replace the previously introduced, broader bill, H.R. 1361, written to prohibit CMS from using competitive bid pricing for accessories used with either CRT power or CRT manual wheelchairs.”

The upcoming bill currently has 33 original co-sponsors, and NCART was urging industry stakeholders to use the summer recess to reach out to their reps and encourage them to sign on.

“Passage of this new bill is needed to fix the current disparity that prevents people who use a CRT manual wheelchair from having the same access to CRT — accessories as those using a CRT power wheelchair,” Clayback said.