Accessories: Stakeholders secure reprieve

WASHINGTON – CMS has announced a 90-day suspension of scheduled Medicare cuts to accessories for complex rehab manual wheelchairs, NCART reports. 

That extends an 18-month suspension that would have expired on July 1 to Oct. 1. 

“They will use this time for further analysis and, hopefully, a permanent suspension,” Don Clayback, executive director of NCART, tweeted today. “Thank you advocates, Congress and CMS.” 

On Monday, a letter led by Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., and signed by 19 members of Congress was sent to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure asking her to stop the Medicare payment cuts. 

CMS said it is extending the suspension based on several factors:

• Beneficiaries with disabilities such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury often rely on complex rehabilitative wheelchairs and accessories to maximize their function and independence.
• It is important to avoid any potential operational difficulties for suppliers, our partners in the Medicaid program or private payers that have elected to rely on the DMEPOS fee schedule that could result from frequent updates to the Medicare fee schedules.
• Finally, this action is consistent with prior Medicare program policy actions related to similar accessories for complex power rehabilitative wheelchairs as described in section 2 of the Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act of 2015.

"CMS is actively reviewing public comments submitted to the agency on related rulemakings, including engaging in future rulemaking, and will update interested stakeholders and suppliers when more information is available,” the agency said.