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High-tech manual wheelchairs: ‘We’re so close’ 

High-tech manual wheelchairs: ‘We’re so close’ 

Wayne GrauWASHINGTON – Industry stakeholders have put all the pieces in place to quickly re-introduce legislation in the Senate to increase access to titanium and carbon fiber ultralightweight manual wheelchairs for Medicare beneficiaries. 

This week, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., introduced S. 247, a bill that, like a previous bill in the last Congress, would create two HCPCS codes for the base of an ultralight manual wheelchair – one code for a base with titanium or carbon fiber and one for a base without these specialized materials – and would allow for upgrading within a code. 

“Sen. Blackburn’s office is really taking the lead on this,” said Mickae Lee, senior manager, government affairs for Lebanon, Tenn.-based Permobil. “She really wants to get this passed as quickly as possible. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s and Rep. John Joyce’s staff are staying engaged and are working to move this forward, as well.” 

In early 2025, before S. 247 was introduced, stakeholders led by AAHomecare collected letters of support from industry organizations, including NCART, iNRRTS and the Clinician Task Force, as well as consumer organizations, and shared them with Blackburn’s office. 

Lee says the goal of the bill is to save beneficiaries from having to pay upfront for the full amount for an ultralight manual wheelchair with specialized materials, something that’s not realistic for many. 

“This allows providers to bill Medicare for the allowed amount that’s on the fee schedule for the base code without the specialized materials and then, if titanium or carbon fiber options are something the beneficiary chooses, they can pay out of pocket the difference in cost for the specialized materials,” she said.    

With no cost and bipartisan support, the previous bill, S. 5154, had the potential to move through the Congress in the last few weeks of 2024, but stakeholders, along with their champions, “ran out of time,” says Wayne Grau, executive director of NCART. 

“They even tried to put it through the hotline process in the Senate, which really requires a bill to be non-controversial, which this is,” he said. “But this process can be derailed when even one senator puts a hold on it and that’s what happened. We worked hard to remove it.” 

With Congress set to take up government spending and other issues by a mid-March deadline, there are potential pathways once again lined up for S. 247, if stakeholders and their champions can “navigate” a new administration and Congress, Lee says. 

“It’s not a complicated issue,” she said. “We’re so close to getting this done.” 

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