The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is looking to further crack down on the companies that administer the privatized version of Medicare. On Nov. 26, CMS proposed new policies aimed at holding Medicare Advantage (MA) plans more accountable while removing “unnecessary barriers to care” for Medicare beneficiaries. The policies target “inappropriate” prior authorization…
CMS Wants to Prevent ‘Barriers to Care’ in Medicare Advantage Programs, Add Guardrails Around AI
Mobility Management Webinar: Exploring Eye Gaze’s Driving, Seating Opportunities
The Tolt Technologies-sponsored webinar is free to attend.
Operating a power wheelchair merely with the flick of an eye is no longer the stuff of science fiction. While clients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), muscular dystrophy, or other mobility-related conditions can lose the strength, stamina and muscle movements needed to use a traditional joystick, eye-gaze technology can make it possible to not just…
Commentary: Will New ‘Wicked’ Movie Defy Wheelchair Stereotypes?
For the first time, Nessarose, aka the Wicked Witch of the East, is portrayed by a real-life wheelchair rider.
I’ve always loved The Wizard of Oz movie (flying monkeys notwithstanding), and I’ve seen Wicked, the musical prequel about the unlikely friendship between Glinda/Galinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, several times on stage. But I’ve always felt conflicted about Wicked because of how Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, is portrayed. She’s…
Miller’s Celebrates 75th Anniversary
The company that began as a party supplies business has become one of the industry’s most venerable providers.
Miller’s Rentals and Sales is celebrating its diamond jubilee — 75 years of serving patients and their families in Akron, Ohio, and other communities in the state. A quick Encyclopedia Britannica search reveals how very different the world was in 1949, the year that Miller’s was founded. For context, Harry S. Truman was sworn in…
New Merits USA President to Start Jan. 1
Current President Mike Laiman will remain with the Merits Group.
Merits USA — manufacturer of consumer and complex power wheelchairs, as well as scooters and stairlifts — will have a new company president starting Jan. 1, 2025. In a Nov. 19 press release, Merits said current vice president Andrew Maskery will succeed Mike Laiman, who has been the company’s president since January 2021. Laiman will…
Abilities Expo Announces 2025 Dates, Venues
The first 2025 show will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in March.
As the final 2024 stop on the national Abilities Expo tour approaches — Dec. 6-8 in Dallas — the consumer show series has released its 2025 schedule of dates and venues. The 2025 schedule kicks off at the Los Angeles Convention Center on March 7-9. That event is followed by the New York Metro Abilities…
2025 RESNA Conference: Joint Expo Hall, Keynotes at RehabWeek Chicago
Seven rehab societies will co-locate and co-exhibit in downtown Chicago in May.
During the summer, the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North American (RESNA) announced that its 2025 conference would be part of RehabWeek Chicago in May. In a Nov. 15 webinar with Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) professionals, RESNA shared additional details on how the event — involving seven rehabilitation-oriented organizations — will provide CRT…
Yamaha to Launch JWG-1 Power Unit in 2025
The rollout will begin in Japan in January and progress to the American market in the fall.
Briefly: CMS Adds Inclusion Body Myositis to Seating Consideration List; Nonprofit Debuts Caregiver Website
Featuring NCART, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and I AM ALS.
CMS Adds Inclusion Body Myositis ICD-10 Code for Seating Considerations The National Coalition for Assistive & Rehab Technology (NCART) has reported that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has added the ICD-10 code for inclusion body myositis (G72.41) to the Group 2 and Group 4 lists for consideration for a skin protection and/or…
Commentary: 3 Takeaways from the DOT’s $50 Million American Airlines Fine
Why this historic penalty could change the way airlines treat wheelchair riders and their equipment.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined American Airlines $50 million, saying in an October announcement that the carrier “failed to provide safe, dignified, and prompt wheelchair assistance and mishandled passengers’ wheelchairs.” This is hardly the first time airlines’ poor treatment of wheelchair riders and their equipment has made the news. But this particular DOT…