All CRT, all week: Stakeholders amplify push for bill to increase access to high-tech manual wheelchairs

WASHINGTON – Stakeholders will use CRT Awareness Week, Sept. 14-18, to mount a coordinated push for the Choices for Increased Mobility Act as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill following the summer recess.

NCART hosts CRT Awareness Week annually to raise awareness of complex rehab technology (CRT), highlighting a different stakeholder group each day, including providers, clinicians, manufacturers and consumers.

This year, with the House of Representatives having passed the Choices for Increased Mobility Act before the summer recess, stakeholders see the week as an ideal opportunity to build support in the Senate.

“We feel like this is the best chance we’ve had,” said Wayne Grau, executive director of NCART. “But it can’t just be one or two providers – everyone needs to reach out.”

The Choices for Increased Mobility Act, S. 247, would improve access to carbon fiber and titanium manual wheelchairs by creating two new HCPCS codes: one for wheelchair bases made with those materials and one for bases made without them. The legislation would also allow beneficiaries to upgrade within a code.

During the week, NCART is encouraging stakeholders to visit its Action Center and contact their senators in support of S. 247.

“The good news,” said Julie Piriano, senior director of payer relations & regulatory affairs for NCART, “is we do have 10 co-sponsors on this bill in the Senate already, so there is awareness and momentum.”

Reaching clinicians beyond the traditional CRT network

While passage of S. 247 is the primary goal, Piriano says CRT Awareness Week also serves as an opportunity to broaden awareness to clinicians who practice CRT in settings such as schools and clinics but may not be familiar with organizations that advocate for the industry and the people it serves.

“We want them to recognize themselves in what we do,” she said. “There’s a home for them with NCART, the Clinician Task Force, iNRRTS and other groups.”

Highlighting the full spectrum of CRT

A major component of CRT Awareness Week is a coordinated social media campaign using graphics developed by NCART. This year, those graphics were redesigned to better reflect the full range of complex rehab technology, highlighting not only wheelchairs but also equipment such as gait trainers and standers.

“There is a whole array of specialized CRT,” Piriano said.

Photo courtesy of NCART.