Medicare To Pay More For Motorized Equipment
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
November 9, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC--The Associated Press reported Thursday that Medicare officials have agreed to ease up on some cuts that had been proposed for reimbursing beneficiaries who purchase motorized wheelchairs and scooters.

Last month, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it would be cutting the current reimbursement rates for such mobility equipment by between 21 and 41 percent, depending on the individual model.

Disability groups quickly joined clinicians, along with makers and distributors of power wheelchairs and scooters, in condemning the rate cuts, which they said would limit the independence of countless seniors and others with physical disabilities because it would put their costs out of reach.

Federal officials had said the cuts were intended to reduce fraud in the Medicare system while insuring that beneficiaries had the appropriate equipment.

A search of the CMS website could not locate any information on the new rates, which go into effect on November 15.

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Reproduced here under special arrangement with Inclusion Daily Express international disability rights news service.
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