The CMN disconnect

WASHINGTON - The GAO in its testimony before the Senate Finance Committee April 28 identified the disconnect between what the CMN requires and what Medicare requires as part of the problem with power wheelchairs. While Medicare's coverage policy requires that the beneficiary be bed- or chair-confined in order to qualify for a power wheelchair, the CMN simply asks whether the beneficiary needs a power wheelchair to move about the home. In 2000, the DMERCs' medical directors sent a jointly signed memorandum outlining this problem, but CMS did little to redress the issue, according to the GAO.