First-month purchase option: 'Doc-fix' development gives industry more time to build support

I just got off the phone with Seth Johnson, vice president of government affairs for Pride Mobility Products. He had this to say on the latest developments surrounding the industry's efforts to delay the elimination of the first-month purchase option for standard power wheelchairs:

The Senate has decided to delay the cut to physician payments for 31 days. The cuts were scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1.

The House of Representatives is working on a 13-month fix to physician payments.

Both the Senate and House return to Capitol Hill on Nov. 29.

"From our perspective, and in talking to our contacts on the Hill, this will give us more time to build support for the delay of the implementation," Johnson said.

The industry seeks to delay the first-month purchase option for one year in exchange for a 1% reduction in the consumer price index-urban scale (CPI-U). It hopes to attach that kind of language to a "doc fix" bill.

Liz Beaulieu