Editor’s Note: If you are a Medicare beneficiary or a family member whose Scooter Store-provided scooter or power wheelchair needs repairs, please get help by clicking HERE.
Medicare has officially announced it will pay for repairs to power mobility devices (PMDs) that previously were classified as capped-rental items provided by The SCOOTER Store.
Medicare will pay for repairs performed on or after Oct. 24, 2013, because on that date, The SCOOTER Store “transferred titles to capped durable medical equipment rented to Medicare beneficiaries,” CMS said in the Jan. 16 edition of MLN Connects. “Medicare beneficiaries now own this equipment.”
Therefore, Medicare will pay for repairs “if the contractor determines that the repairs are reasonable and necessary in accordance with Medicare regulations and program instructions.”
Obtaining repairs for PMDs supplied by The SCOOTER Store has been challenging for SCOOTER Store customers – and frustrating for the DME suppliers that they’ve contacted to ask for help – since The SCOOTER Store filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2013. The company warned via Web site statements that its ability to serve Medicare beneficiaries would be “limited” as it worked on restructuring. Those limitations, a customer service representative told Mobility Management, also extended to service for equipment provided by Alliance Seating & Mobility, The SCOOTER Store’s complex rehab technology division that was founded in 2007.
In September, The SCOOTER Store, based in New Braunfels, Texas, announced it was closing its doors after CMS excluded it from participating in Medicare’s competitive bidding program. Medicare accounted for about 75 percent of The SCOOTER Store’s business, a company representative testified last year to Congress.
Medicare beneficiaries who received power wheelchairs or scooters from The SCOOTER Store and now need to have that equipment repaired can click HERE for details on how to get help.
