This year’s Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) Awareness Week — Sept. 14-18 — will focus on building support for S. 247, the Choices for Increased Mobility Act currently in the U.S. Senate.
The bill, introduced in January by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), is a companion to House bill H.R. 1703, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in July.
The Choices for Increased Mobility Act seeks to provide Medicare beneficiaries with a more streamlined way to upgrade their ultralightweight manual wheelchairs to a titanium or carbon fiber frame. The act would allow beneficiaries to pay out of pocket only for the cost of the upgraded frame. Currently, beneficiaries wishing to upgrade must pay the cost of the entire wheelchair up front and wait for reimbursement — a much higher price that many wheelchair riders have difficulty affording.
The act would not increase reimbursement costs for the Medicare program.
“This annual event was created and promoted by the CRT industry and all stakeholders to promote the incredible value that CRT brings to the lives of individuals who rely on this equipment,” the National Coalition for Assistive & Rehab Technology said in an Aug. 18 bulletin. “We will be coordinating this with the outreach we have planned to the United States Senate to pass the Choices for Increased Mobility Act.”
