Tag: Manual Wheelchair

WASHINGTON – A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would allow Medicare beneficiaries to pay the difference to upgrade to a titanium or carbon fiber manual wheelchair.  Right now, if a consumer wants a titanium or carbon fiber manual wheelchair, they must pay for the full cost of the wheelchair out of pocket, have their provider file a non-assigned claim on their behalf and, if approved, wait to receive 80% of the Medicare allowable.  “These numbers aren’t...

ARLINGTON, Va. – RESNA Fellow Dr. Rory Cooper is one of 16 innovation pioneers who will be honored as part of the 50th class of National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) inductees, the organization has announced. The 2023 class was announced at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in New York. Cooper is the founder and director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL), a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of Pittsburgh. A biomedical engineer,...

FRESNO, Calif. – RGK, a range of advanced, made-to-measure manual wheelchairs, is now available through Sunrise Medical North America. RGK, which Sunrise Medical acquired in 2015, has more than 30 world champion ambassadors globally. “I don’t compromise my manual mobility, why would I expect others to?” said Josh Anderson, vice president of business development and a RGK rider. “Good is not good enough. We are committed to making a better product than we are obligated...

SAINT ROCH de L’ACHIGAN, Quebec – Motion Composites has added Michael Hughes as U.S. sales director. Since joining the HME and complex rehab technology industry in 2009, Hughes has advanced across several leadership positions by developing and implementing market-specific strategic sales and marketing plans that exceeded objectives. “Michael’s leadership, experience and deep understanding of the CRT industry will help us drive significant growth in the U.S. market,”...

ARLINGTON, Va. – RESNA has posted a draft position paper called “RESNA Position on the Application of Ultralight Manual Wheelchairs: Literature Update 2021” for a required 60-day public comment period. All RESNA members and stakeholders in the assistive technology community are invited to submit comments. “This paper intends to contribute to the evidence-based practice that we all try to implement on an every-day basis,” RESNA states. “We are combining lived experiences...

HANOVER, Md. – The Scooter Shop has a new 2,500-square-foot space in a retail center in the Perry Hall section of Baltimore County, according to the Commercial Observer. The company is relocating its showroom and corporate headquarters there from a 3,000-square-foot space in Elkridge, Md. “We expanded into Baltimore County at the 9810 Belair Road location to cover Baltimore County, Harford County, Cecil County, Southern Pennsylvania and Western Delaware,” Jim Luttrell, owner of...

FRESNO, Calif. – Sunrise Medical has appointed Jim Black, a three-time Paralympic athlete, as the business development manager for North America for its RGK brand of sport and made-to-measure manual wheelchairs. Black has more than 30 years of experience in sales, product management and marketing in complex rehab technology. “Bringing innovative solutions to the market and to the people who use our products is part of Sunrise’s and Jim’s DNA,” said Larry Jackson, president...

TIMRA, Sweden – Permobil has entered into an agreement to acquire Stockholm-based Panthera, strengthening its offering of manual wheelchairs.   “Panthera’s products strengthen Permobil’s offering in the market with the world’s lightest wheelchairs for active users, alongside our Progeo and TiLite ranges,” said Bengt Thorsson, CEO and president of Permobil.  Permobil acquired Pasco, Wash.-based TiLite in 2014.  Both Permobil and Panthera...

WASHINGTON – CMS has announced a 90-day suspension of scheduled Medicare cuts to accessories for complex rehab manual wheelchairs, NCART reports.  That extends an 18-month suspension that would have expired on July 1 to Oct. 1.  “They will use this time for further analysis and, hopefully, a permanent suspension,” Don Clayback, executive director of NCART, tweeted today. “Thank you advocates, Congress and CMS.”  On Monday, a letter led...

WASHINGTON – A letter signed by 19 members of Congress was sent to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure late on Monday asking her to stop the Medicare payment cuts to accessories for complex rehab manual wheelchairs that are set to go into effect July 1.  The letter, circulated by Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., was signed by 18 members of the House of Representatives and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.  “CMS has been reviewing the issues and our communication with them has been...