Government
New Medicare power wheelchair rules coming doctors' way
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 21, 2005
Physicians prescribing power wheelchairs or scooters to Medicare beneficiaries must follow new clinical guidelines and submit new billing codes under changes announced by federal officials in February.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a proposed national coverage determination that would establish a more comprehensive evaluation process for determining what type of mobility assistance equipment a beneficiary might need. Doctors are currently following an older standard that simply requires patients to be "non-ambulatory" or "bed- or chair-confined."
CMS is also scrapping its current set of five power wheelchair and scooter codes starting next year in favor of a more expansive list of nearly 50 codes. Federal officials anticipate that both changes will ensure more appropriate coverage of the devices and will prevent fraudulent activity.
Physicians can access the national coverage determination online (link).
The coding changes also are detailed online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/02/21/gvbf0221.htm.
