In brief

AAH: Medicare 'fails'

WASHINGTON - In its Mobility Matters bulletin to lawmakers in April, AAHomecare blasts Medicare for not only denying a mobility claim for a double amputee but also targeting him for a neglect investigation. The bulletin features a Yucca Valley, Calif., man named John, who has no legs and only one "good" arm, and his and his provider's efforts to get him a new wheelchair to replace his badly worn out wheelchair. The problem: John has only had his wheelchair for three years and Medicare will only replace wheelchairs after five years. Still, John and his provider, Esta Willman of Medi-Source Equipment & Supply, believed their claim would be approved on appeal due to extenuating circumstances. Instead, Medicare denied the claim and began investigating John for abusing his wheelchair.

NSM event attracts political star power

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - National Seating & Mobility (NSM) had a special guest at its 2010 Seating Symposium: Zach Wamp, a candidate for governor of Tennessee. During the symposium, which took place here in April, the company also played host to more than 150 ATPs and RTSs, and more than 50 supply partners.

CRMC guides docs

ARLINGTON, Va. - AAHomecare's Complex Rehab and Mobility Council (CRMC) has developed a document for physicians to use as a guide on what must be documented in a patient's record to meet CMS requirements for power wheelchair claims, the association reported in April. "The CRMC developed this document to address the fact that physicians often do not provide proper documentation to meet CMS's medical necessity requirements," it stated.

Manager arrested for years-long wheelchair scam

NEWARK, N.J. - Special agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in April arrested Roland Asemota, the manager of Rose's Medical Supply in East Orange, N.J., and charged him with fraudulently billing tens of thousands of dollars worth of power mobility devices. They made the move after an on-site audit of Rose's billing for January 2006 through April 2009 revealed that 95% of its power wheelchair claims during that time were deficient and fraudulent because they weren't backed up with copies of face-to-face evaluations and valid orders.