A bill that would provide a more accessible pathway for Medicare beneficiaries to upgrade to carbon fiber or titanium ultralightweight wheelchairs has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
H.R. 1703 was introduced on Feb. 27 by Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). It’s described on the Congress.gov website as amending “title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify payment rules for manual wheelchairs under part B of the Medicare program.”
The House bill joins S. 247, the Choices for Mobility Act bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in January by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).
The bills — which the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) said contain identical text — would allow Medicare beneficiaries to pay out of pocket to upgrade an ultralightweight wheelchair to a carbon fiber or titanium frame.
Currently, beneficiaries wishing to upgrade must pay out of pocket for the entire wheelchair up front, then wait for partial Medicare reimbursement. Advocates contend that needing to initially pay for the entire wheelchair up front — rather than just paying for the upgrade — puts carbon fiber and titanium frames out of reach for many wheelchair riders.
The new bills also create new HCPCS codes for the chairs and allow upgrading within a code, AAHomecare said in a Feb. 28 bulletin. Since beneficiaries would personally pay for upgrades, the policy change would cost Medicare nothing.
“This legislation allows manual wheelchair users to choose the wheelchair that is best suited for their medical needs and lifestyle preferences without adding any costs to the Medicare program,” Tom Ryan, AAHomecare president/CEO, said in the announcement. “These are common-sense bills that every member of Congress should support. Now that we have bills in both the House and Senate, mobility stakeholders need to make sure their legislators are aware and on board.”
Mickae Lee, president of the board of directors for the National Coalition for Assistive & Rehabilitation Technology (NCART), told Mobility Management in response to the new bill, “Both House and Senate lead offices are motivated and active. Ways and Means staff is working on it, too.”
AAHomecare’s advocacy website page provides background on the bills. Website visitors can send pre-drafted messages to their members of Congress and Senators to urge them to support the bills.
