Mobility Report

When Americans need medical assistance or equipment, they usually rely on private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare to provide what they need for their health. But with 47 million people uninsured and regulations that restrict the benefits of government health programs, there are always people falling through the cracks – they need a medical service or equipment but don’t have the resources or insurance to pay for it.

What happens to those men, women and children?

While Congress, policymakers and presidential candidates debate the best health policy for the nation, there are real people who need help. Oftentimes they must choose between paying their rent or mortgage or taking care of their health needs. We have senior citizens struggling on fixed incomes who must decide whether to buy food or take care of their health.

To be sure, there is no easy answer for our nation’s healthcare predicament. But The SCOOTER Store, the nation’s largest supplier of power wheelchairs and scooters, has found a way to do its part while Washington continues the search for the right answers.

In 2002, The SCOOTER Store started its Gift of Mobility program. Each year, the program works with organizations around the country to donate power wheelchairs, scooters and manual wheelchairs to individuals and community service organizations. This mobility equipment, valued at a total of more than $200,000 each year, often brings freedom and independence to people with limited mobility.

“In a perfect world, everyone would have private health insurance or be able to rely on a government program,” said Doug Harrison, CEO and Founder of The SCOOTER Store. “But the unfortunate reality is that people often have medical needs that aren’t covered. We are pleased to be able to provide people living with disabilities an opportunity to improve their mobility and their quality of life when often they have nowhere else to turn.”

Clearly, the Gift of Mobility program is impacting the lives of some of the most vulnerable men, women and children in our society.

In January, Stephanie Richardson, 56, was in her Philadelphia home confused and disoriented - she was unsure which prescription medicine to take. Her legs and toes had been amputated due to circulatory problems, and she has relied on a full-time caregiver since 1997. That evening, her call to 9-1-1 began a chain of events that changed her life. Philadelphia Police Officer Edward Schikel responded to the call and was shocked to find that Ms. Richardson was immobile and lacked a power wheelchair. Unable to stand or adequately maneuver a manual wheelchair, Ms. Richardson had spent the last ten years dependent on others for mobility and assistance.

Her insurance wouldn’t cover a power chair, and she could not afford to buy one, but Officer Schikel vowed to find a way to help her. Officer Schikel reached out to The SCOOTER Store for help. When he told The SCOOTER Store representatives about Ms. Richardson’s predicament, it was determined that she was eligible for the Gift of Mobility program, and within days a free power wheelchair was delivered to her.

Now, Ms. Richardson looks forward to going out on her own and getting back to church. She says that receiving the chair “is the best thing that has ever happened” and she is “so thankful and grateful.”

For others, too, regaining their mobility has significantly improved their quality of life. There are many more stories about people whose lives have changed with the gift of a power wheelchair or scooter. Unfortunately, there are countless more people who need power wheelchairs and can’t get them or are in need of other medical equipment or services.

Our nation desperately needs a healthcare policy that provides the medical equipment and services people need. But until that happens, The SCOOTER Store is pleased to be a good corporate citizen, and help as many people as we can. We urge others to do the same.

CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) should be applauded for recently implementing mandatory accreditation that will provide closer inspection of suppliers who will be allowed to bid for contracts under the new competitive bidding process being implemented. While suppliers and manufacturers have various concerns about whether competitive bidding for power wheelchairs and scooters is going to be an effective and efficient process for delivering mobility equipment to Medicare beneficiaries, there is resounding support within the industry for mandatory accreditation. In fact, the industry has called for swifter implementation of this important safeguard than the government’s own timeline.

The industry, however, is concerned that the highly public CMS campaign to fight fraud is overshadowing a developing crisis for Medicare beneficiaries.

In 2007, a CMS forecast said that 243,000 Medicare beneficiaries would medically require a power wheelchair or scooter. But the Medicare power mobility benefit was utilized by only 170,000 beneficiaries, leaving more than 70,000 people who did not get the power wheelchairs or scooters they need to improve their mobility and quality of life.

We fear that new policies and regulations from reimbursement cuts to coverage policy and coding changes have caused many suppliers to go out of business or stop providing power mobility equipment. The result is that it becomes more difficult for Medicare beneficiaries to find suppliers to fill their prescriptions.

Competitive bidding is adding another new wrinkle, with an uncertain impact on suppliers. The industry supports CMS efforts to eliminate Medicare fraud, including new regulations that help achieve that goal. But we also need for the agency to stay aware of the impact and burdens that its policies can place on legitimate, law-abiding suppliers, and more importantly, Medicare beneficiaries. The most vulnerable people in our society deserve a Medicare process that works, and improves their quality of life.

At a recent congressional briefing, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), sharply criticized the Durable Medical Equipment industry, decrying that rampant fraud costs the Medicare system millions of dollars each year. While Medicare fraud certainly must be stopped, the context in which CMS discusses it and the root causes of the fraud need to be addressed.

For years now, CMS has repeatedly pointed the finger at “the industry,” particularly when discussing fraud related to power wheelchairs and scooters.

Let’s take a closer look. The power mobility industry is comprised of the manufacturers of power mobility equipment and the suppliers, businesses ranging from mom and pop operations to large companies. These suppliers navigate CMS’ ever-changing regulations and policies to deliver power wheelchairs and scooters to Medicare beneficiaries living with disabilities. The fraudulent operators are NOT part of the legitimate power mobility industry. They list their addresses as vacant buildings or storefronts, and move from place to place. They are not real businesses; they are crooks.

Consider this: When scam artists bilk investors in land scams, are they referred to as part of the legitimate real estate industry? No. If a car thief steals automobiles, strips the vehicles and is caught reselling the auto parts, is he referred to as part of the auto parts industry? Again the answer is a resounding, no. It shouldn’t be any different in the durable medical equipment business.

Unfortunately, by talking about fraudulent dealers as if they were part of the power mobility industry, CMS has cast a shadow of doubt on dedicated and hard working suppliers. It has unfairly caused the industry to lose valuable credibility with our regulators, Congress and even Medicare beneficiaries. The industry shares with CMS a strong desire to stop Medicare fraud, and we are encouraged that the agency has made fighting fraud a top priority. But every one would be better served if CMS didn’t refer to the scam artists as part of the legitimate power mobility industry.

It is equally frustrating that the industry receives the blunt of the criticism for the fraud when it has been lax supervision of the Medicare system that has resulted in the wasting of taxpayer dollars. It certainly seems hypocritical that the industry gets the blame when CMS allowed the Medicare scams to flourish. How do fraudulent dealers operate in the first place? They receive supplier numbers from CMS that allow them to bill the Medicare system for equipment that doesn’t get delivered to beneficiaries. Clearly, the key to stopping fraud is a system that better scrutinizes which companies receive supplier numbers to bill the Medicare system. The responsibility for doing so falls on CMS.

I’ll have Part 2 next time.

Doug and Susanna Harrison understood from the beginning that employees with a strong interest in the long-term health of their company would be motivated to protect the interests of their customers. For this reason every employee at The SCOOTER Store is an owner and every employee at The SCOOTER Store is treated as an equal. Through the company’s core values, the respect and care offered to each employee of The SCOOTER Store family is returned with great commitment and enthusiasm to our customers, the very foundation of our growth and success.

It is our job at The SCOOTER Store to match our product with customers who have a legitimate and verifiable need for them. In the spirit of the CompanY’s guiding principle ‘Always Do the Right Thing’, employees of The SCOOTER Store assume 100% of the responsibility for accurately determining the customer’s Medicare eligibility and completing the necessary paperwork. We take each customer through a 70-step screening and quality check process that includes phone interviews, coordinating with your doctor and visiting you at home. If you pass our extensive screening process, the power wheelchair you receive is yours to keep and we assume liability for Medicare reimbursement. This is our guarantee to our customers and our commitment to providing responsible Medicare screening.

Every month, The SCOOTER Store makes over 10,000 service and delivery calls to our customers’ homes.