Complex rehab stakeholders rally around titanium bill

WASHINGTON – Two congressional fly-ins in September, which resulted in more than 100 meetings with lawmakers and their staff, served as a call for action to improve access to titanium and carbon fiber ultralightweight manual wheelchairs. 

AAHomecare hit the Hill on Sept. 10, followed by NCART and U.S. Rehab on Sept. 24, to ask lawmakers to consider passing “Choices for Increased Mobility Act” or including it in end-of-year legislation. 

“I was pleased we were able to get three wheelchair consumers to attend, which is key to getting some of the offices to really understand why this is an issue and how great the technology is,” said Alexis Ward, senior director of payer relations for AAHomecare. “They could clearly explain to staff why it’s an improvement over aluminum, which is usually the go-to for a K5 wheelchair. It was great to see that connection made.” 

H.R. 5371 would establish two or more HCPCS codes for the base of an ultralightweight manual wheelchair depending on the construction material used, with one code used to identify a base with titanium or carbon fiber materials and one to identify a base without these materials.  

In what turned out to be perfect timing, during the fly-in on Sept. 24, news also broke that Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., had introduced S. 5154, a companion bill to H.R. 5371. The bills are similar, but S. 5154 adds language that would allow upgrades within a code. 

“That was a huge win,” said Tyler Mahncke, president of U.S. Rehab. “It’s not often that you’re on the Hill and see progress like that as you’re walking around to different meetings.” 

The immediate push for the bills is to ramp up the number of co-sponsors to increase their chances of moving. At press time, H.R. 5371 had 10 co-sponsors and S. 5154 had one co-sponsor, Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who uses a titanium wheelchair. 

“I’ve been talking to sponsors on moving this forward and they’re looking to get it passed on its own,” said Jay Witter, senior vice president of public policy for AAHomecare. “There are options for this legislation, because it’s (budget neutral) and has no CBO score. It could move through the suspension calendar in the House or unanimous consent in the Senate. We just need as many co-sponsors as possible.”