“Many Medicare patients depend on complex and specialized rehabilitation technologies for personal mobility in their daily lives,” said Stabenow. “This important legislation provides patients crucial access to assistive technology products tailored to their specific needs. Having access to quality, affordable health care should be a right not a privilege in this country. Comprehensive health care must include providing those with complex disabilities access to the health care technology they require.”

“Complex rehabilitation and assistive technology products are a lifeline to severely disabled Medicare beneficiaries who seek to lead independent and productive lives,” said Senator Snowe. “Although competitive bidding may reduce the cost of some health services, it is simply untenable to include such sophisticated and personalized equipment in the Medicare competitive bidding program. We must ensure that these individuals living with complex disabilities will have access to the necessary medical equipment and services to fit their needs.

The Medicare Access to Complex Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Act of 2008 will exempt complex rehabilitation and assistive technology products from the Medicare competitive bidding program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was directed by statute to proceed with a durable medical equipment competitive bidding program, which began last May in selected areas with ten product categories, including power wheelchairs and related accessories. This bill will protect access to the customized equipment that beneficiaries with severe disabilities require for improved quality of life.

A major concern is that the competitive bidding process will likely yield more uniform medical equipment, limiting access for severely impaired Medicare beneficiaries. In fact, prosthetics and orthotics—devices which are intended to replace body parts or improve functioning of the body—have already been exempted from the program. Furthermore, the cost savings expected from the inclusion of complex rehab in the competitive bidding program are likely negligible, as this product category is comparatively small.

Similar legislation was introduced in the House by Representative Tom Allen (D Maine) and Representative Ron Lewis (R-KY) in May 2007.