A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to prevent Medicare from subjecting complex rehab manual wheelchairs to its DME competitive bidding program.

H.R. 2293, the Protecting Access to Complex Rehab Manual Wheelchairs act, was introduced April 12 by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.). A total of 21 other Representatives had also signed on when the bill was introduced.

According to NCART Executive Director Don Clayback, the bill seeks to permanently exclude complex rehab manual wheelchairs from Medicare’s competitive bidding program, and also seeks to stop Medicare from applying competitive bidding-derived pricing to complex rehab manual wheelchair critical components for 18 months.

In an April 12 bulletin to stakeholders, Clayback said the 18-month suspension “will allow time to develop a permanent policy change.”

Clayback noted that H.R. 2293 has bipartisan support, and that NCART will be updating its advocacy materials so industry members can lobby their Representatives to sign on as cosponsors.