Scooter Store throws bulletin, blogs into ring
By HME News Staff
Updated Tue July 31, 2007
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - The Scooter Store's no stranger to lobbying Congress, but the national provider of power mobility devices sent its efforts into overdrive in July, when it launched a bulletin called "Mobility Today" and three blogs.
"We feel it's more important than ever for members of Congress to understand the impact of the November price cuts and national competitive bidding," said Mark Leita, director of public affairs for The Scooter Store. "They need to know what it has done to access."
The bulletin goes to all 550 members of Congress and their staffs; the trade press; and PR Newswire, a company that distributes news and press releases for small businesses. The blogs appear as a sub-link on The Scooter Store's Web site, www.thescooterstore.com.
The Scooter Store believes the industry must continue lobbying members of Congress to support the rehab carve-out bill and other industry bills, but it hopes the bulletin and blogs will open their eyes to the more "global problem" of reduced access. The first issue of "Mobility Today" features a graph of PMD utilization and explains that in December 2006, one month after CMS slashed reimbursement, 9,860 beneficiaries received power wheelchairs. Before that, between 12,000 and 13,000 beneficiaries a month did.
The blogs cover public affairs, consumer and physician issues. They will provide "common sense" information dressed up with data, graphs and photos of consumers.
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