CRT providers report reduced access, NCART survey finds
By HME News Staff
Updated Fri August 17, 2018
WASHINGTON - An alarming 65% of complex rehab providers say CMS's application of bid-related pricing to accessories for complex manual wheelchairs has reduced their ability to provide these products to Medicare beneficiaries, according to a new survey from NCART.
An additional 22% say they have been holding off on limiting the accessories they provide, but if nothing changes in the next 90 days, they'll have no choice.
“That equates to 87% of the Medicare CRT suppliers indicating that currently, or within the next 90 days, they will not be able to provide the right complex rehab wheelchair systems that Medicare beneficiaries with significant disabilities require,” NCART stated.
To evaluate the impact of bid pricing on accessories for complex manual wheelchairs, NCART conducted a confidential survey, generating responses from 45 companies with 402 Medicare supplier locations across the country.
Stakeholders plan to use the survey results to lobby Congress to pass H.R. 3730 and S. 486, bills that would stop bid-related pricing for accessories for complex manual wheelchairs. The pricing has been in place since Jan. 1, 2016.
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