Scooter Store racks up non-Medicare biz
By HME News Staff
Updated Wed December 31, 2008
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas--The Scooter Store announced in November that it had formed new partnerships with 17 health plans with 3.9 million members. But that's not the whole story, company officials say.
“We have acquired more than 133 contracts over the last six or seven years,” said Sharon Kleinfelder, vice president of corporate contracting.
But 2008 was a particularly good year for The Scooter Store: In all, it added 30 contracts with health plans with more than 30 million members, Kleinfelder said.
The Scooter Store's most recent contracts include Medicare Advantage and Managed Medicaid.
Contracts allow The Scooter Store to reach non-Medicare beneficiaries, Kleinfelder says, but they have their challenges. Each plan, for example, has different fee schedules and different documentation requirements. Some require different evaluations; some want letters; some want chart notes; and some want their own forms, she said.
Still, Kleinfelder says, it's typically much easier to communicate with officials from health plans than CMS.
“You can actually pick up the phone and get a case manager on the line and talk to them about the patient and their plan of care,” she said.
Comments