CRT MWC Language Is Included in a Third Bill

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Jul 10, 2019

Language protecting consumer access to complex rehab technology (CRT) manual wheelchairs has been included in a third bill, according to an NCART news bulletin.

In a July 10 e-mail to the industry, NCART Executive Director Don Clayback said CRT manual wheelchairs are mentioned in H.R. 2328, known as the Reauthorizing & Extending America’s Community Health (REACH) Act. That bill was scheduled to be reviewed by the House Energy & Commerce Committee in a markup session on July 11.

Clayback said in his bulletin, “To recap, the language provides a permanent [Medicare] competitive bidding program exemption for CRT manual wheelchairs; and a one-year suspension from Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020, of competitive bidding program rates being inappropriately applied to CRT manual wheelchair accessories. The one-year suspension keeps the cost of the bill down to encourage passage, and we will use that time to work with CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] to secure a permanent policy change.”

He added that the inclusion of that language in H.R. 2328 “shows strong and growing support in the House to take action on this issue.”

This is the second time in the last few weeks that CRT manual wheelchair language has been included in another, larger bill. On June 25, Clayback told the industry that H.R. 3416, the HEARTS and Rural Relief Act, included language to protect access to CRT manual wheelchairs, among other provisions.

H.R. 2293 is the original bill “to exclude complex rehabilitative manual wheelchairs from the Medicare competitive acquisition program.” NCART noted that all of the bills have bipartisan support.