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AAhomecare Announces CRT CB Exemption Provision Passes the House
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7217 by a 400-11 margin. The legislation includes language exempting Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) manual wheelchairs from the competitive bidding program and halts the application of bidding-derived pricing for manual CRT wheelchair accessories for 18 months (Jan. 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020).
The bill is expected to head to the Senate for consideration under the "hotline" process, where the bill is distributed throughout the Senate. If no members of the Senate place a hold on the bill within 24 hours of its distribution, the bill is passed. If a hold (or multiple holds) are placed, the legislation's proponents will work to see if they can determine who is placing the hold and attempt to convince them to remove it. Once all holds are removed, the bill is passed. The hotline process was used in December 2015 to pass legislation delaying bidding-derived pricing for group 3 power CRT accessories.
AAHomecare has asked Senate leadership to support this legislation, and will work with suppliers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders in the mobility sector to move the bill forward in the Senate as needed.
Complete H.R. 7217 text can be found here. The CRT-related provisions in the bill from the bill summary are shown below.
Title III-Medicare
Section 301. Exclusion of Complex Rehabilitative Manual Wheelchairs from the Competitive Acquisition Program and non-application of Medicare fee schedule adjustments for manual wheelchair accessories and seating systems when used in conjunction with complex rehabilitation technology (CRT) wheelchairs.
Section 301 prohibits the inclusion of manual Complex Rehabilitative wheelchairs as well as certain other Manual Wheelchairs from the Competitive Acquisition Program. These chairs are currently not included and this prohibition mirrors current statute for CRT power wheelchairs. The provision also delays the application of competitive bid pricing used with CRT accessories used with certain complex rehab and manual wheelchairs for eighteen months, which mirrors similar actions taken by Congress in the 21st Century Cures Act for accessories used in conjunction with Group 3 and above power wheelchairs.
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Medtrade Announces Special Rates Until 12/22/18
Medtrade has announced special registration rates, SmartSaver rates, for the Medtrade Show in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Hotel April 16-18, 2019.
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