December 7, 2018
CRT Advocates and Friends,
Great news, two very important CRT provisions have been added to a larger "Medicaid" House bill that was introduced yesterday afternoon. The bill number is H.R. 7217 (short title is the "Improve Act") and is expected to be voted on next week. Now we need to work together over the next few days to get this important legislation passed!
The two CRT provisions in the bill are:
1. Provides a permanent exemption from the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program for CRT manual wheelchair bases (just like CRT power wheelchairs).
2. Provides an 18-month "suspension" in Medicare's inappropriate application of Competitive Bidding Program payment rates to CRT manual wheelchair accessories. These accessories will go back to being paid at the traditional Medicare rates (just like CRT power wheelchair accessories). The 18-month suspension goes from 1/1/19 to 6/30/20 and will allow time for the needed discussion to make a permanent policy change.
H.R. 7217 also includes improvements to the Medicaid program for children and adults with disabilities and should have broad bipartisan support. You can read the bill text and a summary of the bill by section here. This is great progress, but it still needs to get passed. Starting today and through next week the House and Senate MUST hear from their constituents that this legislation NEEDS to be passed this year.
Passage of this bill won't happen without your voice. Go to www.protectmymobility.org for links to contact your Members of Congress and ask them to pass H.R. 7217. Please encourage others to send emails and make phone calls too. The more voices asking for passage, the better!
This would be a MAJOR win for access to CRT for people with disabilities. Let's get everyone working hard to get this over the finish line next week!
Regards,
Don Clayback
Executive Director | NCART
dclayback@ncart.us | www.ncart.us
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