Something gave me the impression that might be a factor..CL On Wednesday, August 17, 2016, <arthur_tor...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Don't know about pacemakers, in the power wheelchair world, Medicare IS > one of the MAJOR problems - along with most of the other insurance > companies in the US, most of which just copy the Medicare rules... In a > gross mis-interpretation of the original legislation, which attempted to > make a distinction between patients living at home vs. those in an > institution, Medicare says they will only fund chairs for use "INSIDE the > home" - which limits speeds, suspension and all the other things that one > might want to go outside - say to go to a Dr.'s appointment, or grocery > shopping - let alone more challenging things like driving across the lawn > or down some of our wonderfully (NOT) paved sidewalks... > > Since Medicare and other insurance pays for the vast majority of power > chairs (similar deal to other medical equipment), the patient USING the > chair is not the 'customer' - the insurance industry is... And as the > 'customer' they don't really care about the patient's needs as much as they > do about getting the cheapest piece of crap that they can palm of on him / > her... > > Add to this that 'medical devices' must be approved by the FDA, who's > entire incentive structure is to delay and obstruct progress, and "RESNA" > (Rehabilitation Equipment Society of North America) which is an entrenched > industry 'standards body' that helps the manufacturer's avoid spending R&D > money by writing 'standards' that make it prohibitively expensive to enter > as a competitor, and block efforts to make 'performance' chairs by imposing > requirements that only oversized tanker chairs can meet... > > Essentially Medicare etc. are totally happy with the existing situation... > > ART > > ------------------ > Arthur Torrey - <arthur_tor...@comcast.net <javascript:;>> > ------------------- > > > ----- Original TRIMMED Message ----- > From: christopher Lucy <chrisbuell1...@gmail.com <javascript:;>> > To: Mary-Anne Wolf <mgw...@comcast.net <javascript:;>> > Cc: Arthur Torrey <arthur_tor...@comcast.net <javascript:;>>, > libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org <javascript:;>, Aaron E-J < > t...@otherrealm.org <javascript:;>>, Alex Marthews <a...@warrantless.org > <javascript:;>>, James O'Keefe <joke...@jamesokeefe.org <javascript:;>> > Sent: Wed, 17 Aug 2016 13:31:45 -0000 (UTC) > Subject: Re: [libreplanet-discuss] [fsf-community-team] Golden Rule > > Does anyone know where medicare and BUMMERCARE STAND ON THESE ISSUES IF > TAX DOLLARS ARE GOING INTO R&D OR SUPPLY TO END USERS(PATIENTS).CL > > >
