Congress Passes CRT Power Wheelchair Accessories Delay December 18, 2015 CRT Stakeholders and Friends, Talk about right down to the wire! Today was the last day of the 2015 Congressional session and we are happy to report that Congress passed S-2425, the "Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act". This bill includes a one year delay in the application of Medicare competitive bid pricing to Complex Rehab Power Wheelchair Accessories. This is great news for people with disabilities who depend on Complex Rehab wheelchairs and this would not have happened without the dedication and collective work of the Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) community. Sincere thanks to all the consumers, advocacy organizations, clinicians, providers, manufacturers, and others who worked extremely hard to make this happen! They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well it definitely takes a village to pass legislation in Congress too. We also want to thank our Congressional Champions and their Congressional staff for their commitment to protecting people with disabilities' access to CRT and the related supporting services. Please remember to reach back out to your own Members next week and thank them personally. Unfortunately Congress did not include the full text of HR-3229/S-2196 in bill that was passed today and this delay only applies to accessories used with Complex Power Wheelchairs, not to accessories used with Complex Manual Wheelchairs. However, this one year delay provides us the opportunity in 2016 to further our work on the wheelchair accessories issue and to establish needed improvements for CRT within Medicare and other health insurance programs. We have work ahead of us for next year, but the concentrated efforts (and pain) we have put in these past few months has elevated the awareness of CRT in Congress. This lays a solid foundation for continued progress. We look forward to making further advancements in 2016 in protecting and improving access to CRT and the related supporting services for the children and adults who depend on specialized technology to manage their medical needs and maximize their function and independence. Thanks again for all your help and Happy Holidays to all! Don Donald E. Clayback Executive Director | NCART Office 716-839-9728 | Cell 716-913-4754 [email protected] | www.ncart.us