With Major League Baseball’s (MLB) opening day set for March 25, this week’s Take 5 highlights Jason Benetti, lauded broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers who will also call the play by play for Sunday primetime games on NBC and its Peacock streaming service. Benetti, who has cerebral palsy, worked with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation to…
Mobility Management Take 5: Play Ball!
Briefly: Getting Ready for the March 25 LCDs Meeting
The DME MACs’ meeting will cover power mobility devices and options/accessories, including seat elevation.
Noridian Healthcare Solutions (Jurisdictions A and D DME MAC) and CGS Administrators (Jurisdictions B and C DME MAC) are hosting a virtual public meeting on Wednesday, March 25, starting at 10 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss proposed local coverage determinations (LCDs) for power mobility devices — specifically, Group 2 power wheelchairs (HCPCS coded K0830/K0831) with…
DME MACs Announce Meeting on Proposed LCDs for Seat Elevation Coverage on Group 2 Power Chairs
The March 25 virtual meeting will provide time for public comments.
Nearly three years after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) affirmed Medicare coverage for power seat elevation on power wheelchairs, the Medicare DME MACs — Noridian Healthcare Solutions (Jurisdictions A and D) and CGS Administrators (Jurisdictions B and C) — have announced a March 25 meeting to discuss proposed local coverage determinations (LCDs)…
Telehealth Flexibilities Extended for OTs, PTs, Through December 2027
The latest appropriations bill gives advocates nearly two years to create a permanent fix.
The latest federal appropriations bill included language that extends telehealth flexibilities for occupational (OT) and physical therapists (PT), as well as for speech-language pathologists and audiologists, through Dec. 31, 2027. The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2026 (H.R. 7148), signed by President Donald Trump on Feb. 3, finally gives clinicians some breathing room, after earlier continuing resolutions…
Take 5 with Mobility Management’s Coffee Break
HERL plans fundraiser; SOUL Mobility on bridging the manual/power gap.
Clinics, labs, hospitals, classrooms, conference rooms … seating and wheeled mobility is an awesome industry, but an intense and tiring one. You deserve a breather! Enter the Mobility Management Coffee Break, social and digital media quick hits recommended by your colleagues (and me)! Send me your recommendations ([email protected]), along with a sentence or two about…
RESNA Seeks Donations for New Denis K. Anson Innovation Award
An endowment will support an award given to the Audience Favorite winner of the annual Developers Showcase.
The Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) is honoring longtime member Denis K. Anson by launching an endowment fund in his name. Donations are now being accepted for the fund, whose creation is being led by past RESNA Presidents Gregg Vanderheiden and Roger Smith. The award will be given each year…
Accessibility Advocates: WestJet Power Wheelchair Weight Limit Excludes CRT Consumers
The Canadian-based airline has a 300-lb. weight limit for power chairs it transports.
Accessibility advocates say Calgary, Alberta-based airline WestJet has published weight limits that prevent many Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) wheelchair riders from bringing their Group 3 power chairs with them when they fly. WestJet’s website says wheelchairs and scooters that weigh more than 300 lbs. (approximately 136 kg) are not allowed on its Boeing 737 or…
Congressional Subcommittee to Discuss Ultralightweight Upgrade Bill on Jan. 8
The House Energy & Commerce’s subcommittee will also discuss bills related to durable medical equipment funding.
The House Energy & Commerce’s subcommittee on health will be discussing H.R. 1703, the titanium/carbon fiber ultralightweight upgrade bill, among other bills during a Jan. 8 hearing. The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) called for constituents of health subcommittee members to reach out to their representatives’ health care staffers by Wednesday, Jan. 7, “and ask…
Commentary: How RISE Could Impact CRT’s Next Generation of Clinicians
We need more occupational and physical therapists, not fewer.
It is no secret that the Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) industry is an aging one, professionally speaking. In May 2019, I quoted the University of Pittsburgh’s Mark Schmeler, Ph.D., OTR/L, ATP, who said the average age of an industry Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) — which includes clinicians — was 52. The age of the average…
CMS Releases 2026 Medicare Fee Schedule Changes
Competitive bidding rounds impact the actual increases for product categories.
The new Medicare fee schedule for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) has been released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The fee schedule is effective Jan. 1, 2026. CMS announced the Consumer Price Index Urban (CPI-U) percentage increase as 2.7%. But in a Dec. 22 bulletin, the American Association…