September 8, 2017 CRT Stakeholders, Very good news for people with disabilities who rely on CRT manual wheelchairs and accessories (better referred to as critical components). Needed legislation has been introduced in Congress by 43 members of the House of Representatives. Legislation was introduced today by Representatives Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and John Larson (D-CT) to stop CMS from using Competitive Bid pricing for accessories used with CRT manual wheelchairs. They were joined in this bipartisan action by 41 original cosponsors (19 Republicans and 22 Democrats) and includes excellent representation from the key Congressional Committees. You can see the list of the 43 Representatives by state here. This bill is needed to resolve the lingering issue of CMS applying competitive bid pricing to accessories used with CRT manual wheelchairs. Unfortunately, a June policy change by CMS solved the problem for CRT power wheelchairs but did not extend that same correction to CRT manual wheelchair accessories. People with disabilities who use a CRT manual wheelchair should have the same access to critical wheelchair components as those who use a CRT power wheelchair. Our sincere thanks to Representative Zeldin, Representative Larson, and the other Representatives who joined as original cosponsors for their leadership to protect access for people with disabilities. We will have the official bill number on Monday and will be updating related materials and the email/phone tools to help secure additional cosponsors. Watch for more details Monday. Regards, Don Donald E. Clayback Executive Director | NCART Office 716-839-9728 | Cell 716-913-4754 [email protected] | www.ncart.us P.S. If you know of any other stakeholders that would like to receive updates like these, have them join our mailing list here!