Taking on Social Security Delays

Representative Crowley (D-NY) meets with representatives from United Spinal Association following the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Hearing on proposed regulations and delays with Social Security claims.Terry Moakley of United Spinal Association testified on behalf of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities at a January 16, 2008 hearing on “Social Security Benefits for Economically Vulnerable Beneficiaries” before the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways & Means Committee.

In his testimony, Terry emphasized:

  • Serious concerns that Social Security’s proposed regulations will deny claimants the ability to submit additional evidence of their disability at the time of their hearing. Essentially, if a claimant’s disability worsened between the time that they initially filed a claim and the time of their hearing, then they would be forced to begin the claims process from the beginning in order to submit additional evidence of the worsened disability.
  • Changes to Social Security programs so that disability beneficiaries who are able to work are encouraged to do so without fear of serious repercussions.
  • The need to eliminate the 24-month waiting period to receive Medicare. This critical period of time after a disabling injury or diagnosis can make or break a person - it is simply the worst time to be without continuity of medical care and can have serious medical, financial and psychosocial repercussions.
Terry also cited his own experience of a serious spinal cord injury while he was in the Marine Corps. The excellent medical care he received in the military and from the VA beginning immediately after his injury enabled him to return to work, and he has been working for the last 35 years.
Click here to read Terry’s complete testimony before the Social Security Subcommittee.
Care to get your power wheelchair online?

In a less-than-surprising finding by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, power wheelchair prices paid by Medicare are higher than retail prices found on internet websites.

 

I find this incredibly troubling - not that Medicare is paying more than internet retail, but that the HHS IG believes that service levels of Medicare suppliers are equivalent to black-hole websites that will drop ship any piece of equipment to anyone without a proper fitting. Does the HHS IG understand how complicated a power wheelchair can be? Do they understand how essential the right wheelchair is to its user? There are many services that cannot be found over the internet which make this comparison ludicrous:

  1. Wheelchairs are customized pieces of medical equipment that can be detrimental to the user if improperly fitted. Pressure sores anyone??
  2. Medicare suppliers provide a range of services and supports that are unavailable from the comparison’s websites:
    1. Assistance with selection
    2. Customization for the patient’s individual needs
    3. Functional evaluation in the patient’s home
    4. Trial wheelchairs
    5. Wheelchair assembly, training and service
  3. Medicare codes are not a reliable indicator of equivalence. Different manufacturers assign the same Medicare code (HCPCS) to a wide range of wheelchairs with varying reliability, quality and performance.

 

If you would like to see the HHS IG’s full report: click here.

 

Finally, the folks at Independence Care Systems in New York City have taken issue with the IG’s report. Click here to see their letter to the IG, and click here to see the IG’s response.

 

Thank you to ICS’ Rick Surpin for taking issue with this report and its conclusions and for bringing it to the Council’s attention through Henry Claypool, ICS Director of Policy.

Spinal Cord Leaders Council Formed!
At a recent summit in Washington, DC, 19 national organizations and institutions working to improve the lives of individuals with spinal cord injuries or disorders joined together to establish the Spinal Cord Leaders Council. The purpose of the Leaders Council is to advance federal legislative and regulatory policies that would empower persons with SCI/D to lead more active and productive lives.
Participating organizations in the Spinal Cord Leaders Council include:
  • Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
  • Kennedy Krieger Institute
  • National Spinal Cord Injury Association
  • Paralyzed Veterans of America
  • Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation
  • Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
  • Craig Hospital
  • Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
  • National Rehabilitation Hospital
  • Shepherd Center
  • United Spinal Association
  • University of Utah-Rehabilitation Services
  • Rehabilitation Institute of Indianapolis
  • Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience
  • Craig H. Neilsen Foundation
  • ITEM Coalition
  • New Mobility magazine
  • American Association of SCI Nurses
  • American Association of SCI Psychologists and Social Workers
  • American Paraplegia Society and the American Spinal Injury Association.
Launched during a 2006 summit on spinal cord injury, hosted by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, the Spinal Cord Leaders Council was formalized by the leaders of the 19 active organizations in November 2007. The New York City-based United Spinal Association was elected secretariat of the Council, and its president, Paul J. Tobin, was elected the Council’s first chairperson. Tobin noted, “the formation of the Council is a unique opportunity to pool resources and grass roots voices of people with SCI/D in our nation to achieve breakthroughs on issues too long neglected.”
The Council selected three major issues for its 2007-2008 Policy Agenda: first, to abolish the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “in the home” policy, which allows issuance of a power-operated wheelchair or scooter to a beneficiary only if it is needed to move within the home, but bans this type of wheelchair if needed to move within the community; second, enactment by the Congress of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act to promote spinal cord paralysis research and to improve SCI/D rehabilitation; and third, ensure that critical issues facing Americans with spinal cord injuries and dysfunction are clearly articulated in the platforms of the 2008 presidential candidates.