Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and John Larson (D-Conn.) have introduced H.R. 3730 into the House, legislation to stop CMS from using competitive bidding-derived reimbursement for accessories used with manual CRT wheelchairs. The language of the bill is available at http://bit.ly/2h59bxP.
The legislation was backed by a bi-partisan crew of lawmakers — 19 Republicans and 22 Democrats — who attached their names to the bill as original co-sponsors. The list came after a concentrated advocacy effort to prime the nascent legislation during the August congressional recess. The full list of initial backers for the bill is available at http://bit.ly/2eMnNl2.
“This bill is needed to resolve the lingering issue of CMS applying competitive bid pricing to accessories used with CRT manual wheelchairs,” noted Don Clayback, executive director of the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART). “Unfortunately, a June policy change by CMS solved the problem for CRT power wheelchairs but did not extend that same correction to CRT manual wheelchair accessories. People with disabilities who use a CRT manual wheelchair should have the same access to critical wheelchair components as those who use a CRT power wheelchair.”
