The National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART) is calling on complex rehab stakeholders to give lawmakers the results of a national survey showing that reimbursement cuts are negatively impacting patient access to needed items.
The study showed that CMS’s application of competitive bidding-derived reimbursement cuts on accessories for manual complex rehab wheelchairs has forced 87 percent of providers to reduce provisioning those items.
“These survey results further emphasize the need for Congress to pass H.R. 3730 and S. 486 to stop CMS from continuing to inappropriately apply Competitive Bid Program pricing to components of Complex Rehab manual wheelchairs,” said NCART Executive Director Don Clayback. “Your Members of Congress need this new data before the end of September, even if they have already signed on to the bills.”
To do that, providers can visit www.protectmymobility.org and click on the "Send the Email" which will automatically send details from the survey to their members of Congress and remind those lawmakers to take legislative action. The process takes three minutes, according to Clayback.
“It is critical that Congress hears from CRT stakeholders across the country in order to resolve this issue before year-end,” he added.
The study surveyed more than 400 Medicare supplier and noted that 65 percent of providers surveyed said reimbursement cuts had “significantly reduced our ability to provide the right wheelchair accessories to Medicare beneficiaries who require Complex Rehab Manual Wheelchairs.” An additional 22 percent said they had been waiting for Congress to take action but “if such relief does not come within the next 90 days we will be forced to reduce the related accessories and services we provide.”
The full report can be read at bit.ly/2MKimWg.