H.R. 3730 Phone-In Day Planned for Nov. 14

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Nov 08, 2018

Set some time aside on Wed., Nov. 14, to show your personal and professional support for H.R. 3730.

Nov. 14 will be a national call-in day for the bill. H.R. 3730 would prevent Medicare competitive bidding-derived pricing from being applied to complex rehab technology (CRT) manual wheelchair accessories.

CRT power wheelchair accessories already have that protection. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced in June 2017 that it would not apply competitive bidding-derived pricing to reimbursement rates for CRT power chair accessories. But the CRT industry is seeking a legislative fix for accessories used on manual CRT wheelchairs.

Industry and CRT-related consumer organizations are asking stakeholders to contact their members of Congress on Nov. 14 to ask for their support for the bill. House members will also be asked to relay their support for H.R. 3730 to leadership of the Energy and Commerce and the Ways and Means committees.

The industry will be pushing to move the bill forward now that midterm elections are over.

H.R. 3730’s official name is “To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the non-application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex rehabilitative manual wheelchairs and accessories.” The bill was introduced in September 2017 by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.). At its introduction, the bill had 41 original co-sponsors — 19 Republicans and 22 Democrats.

At press time, H.R. 3730 had 120 co-sponsors — 58 Republicans and 62 Democrats, including 18 co-sponsors on the Ways and Means and 19 co-sponsors on the Energy and Commerce committees.

For more information on H.R. 3730 and how you can participate during call-in day, check out NCART’s Web site.