Tag: manual wheelchairs

WASHINGTON - Forty one members of the House of Representatives have signed a congressional letter urging CMS to permanently stop applying competitive bidding pricing to accessories for complex rehab manual wheelchairs. Reps. John Larson, D-Conn., and Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., began circulating the letter in August. “Our sincere thanks goes to Reps. Larson and Zeldin for their continued leadership in protecting access to CRT for people with disabilities and to their 39 colleagues,” wrote Don...

WASHINGTON - Reps. John Larson, D-Conn., and Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., have extended the deadline for their sign-on letter asking CMS to permanently exempt accessories for complex rehab manual wheelchairs from competitive bidding pricing to Sept. 18. “They understand it's been challenging to contact offices during the August recess and want to give us more time to continue our outreach to other representatives,” NCART stated in a bulletin. The deadline was previously Aug. 31. For the current...

WASHINGTON - Performant, Medicare's RAC, has notified providers by letter that, per authorization from CMS, it will resume certain medical review activities, according to the van Halem Group.The notification says providers have an additional 30 days to submit discussion requests for review for result and initial findings letters dated Feb. 27, 2020, to March 27, 2020. It also advises providers to access the Provider Portal to review any claims pertaining to those dates.Performant most recently posted...

NEW YORK - The United Spinal Association and the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh have co-developed a new app that informs and encourages consumers and their families to play an active role in buying, using and maintaining their manual wheelchairs. “As a national nonprofit serving people with spinal cord injuries and disorders, we know how important having a properly fitted manual wheelchair is in pursuing a healthy, active and independent...

WASHINGTON - The Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) has received approval to audit hospital beds and manual wheelchairs, according to a bulletin from AAHomecare. The issue names are “Hospital Beds: Medical Necessity and Documentation Requirements” and “Manual Wheelchairs: Medical Necessity and Documentation Requirements.”  These are both complex reviews and the RAC will be determining whether the items were reasonable and necessary based on the medical record. The RAC...

WASHINGTON - In a hard-fought win, industry stakeholders have succeeded in getting Congress to suspend competitive bidding pricing for accessories for complex manual wheelchairs.Both the House of Representatives and the Senate last week passed H.R. 1865, a year-end spending bill that includes language requiring CMS to stop applying bid pricing to these accessories for 18 months starting Jan. 1, 2020.“This really has been a four-year battle that involved getting resolutions for complex power...

You probably can feel it in the air. You're sensing that this is not just any ordinary day and you're right. Since it's Monday, we'll help explain that feeling. Today, Aug. 19, is the first day of National CRT Awareness Week. National CRT Awareness Week is being held to increase awareness of what Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) is, the important role it plays in the health and independence of children and adults with disabilities, and the need for Congress to pass pending legislation to protect CRT...

UPDATE: The Ways and Means Committee has passed H.R. 3429, "HEARTS and Rural Relief Act," with a voice vote after a "mark up" session today.WASHINGTON - The Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives will hold a “mark up” session tomorrow for a bill that includes language from H.R. 2293, according to an NCART bulletin.H.R. 2293, introduced earlier this year by Reps. John Larson, D-Conn., and Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., would suspend competitive bidding pricing for accessories for...

WASHINGTON - Reps. John Larson, D-Conn., and Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., have re-introduced a bill that would permanently exempt complex rehab manual wheelchairs from Medicare's competitive bidding program and would suspend the agency from applying bid-related payment rates to accessories for those wheelchairs for 18 months.The suspension would give stakeholders and their champions time to work on a permanent policy change.“Representatives Larson and Zeldin were joined in this bipartisan introduction...

WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives this afternoon handily passed a bill with language that requires CMS to stop applying competitive bidding pricing to accessories for complex rehab manual wheelchairs for 18 months, starting Jan. 1, 2019.H.R. 7217, which passed 400-11, also has language creating a permanent exemption from the competitive bidding program for complex rehab manual wheelchair bases. CMS hasn't included these bases in the program or applied pricing from the program to them, but...