Industry Comes Back Swinging on Mobility Misinformation

ARLINGTON, Va. — In an attempt to put the brakes on misinformation about power wheelchair pricing, the American Association for Homecare is partnering with a public relations firm to get the right word out about mobility issues.

The association, along with its Complex Rehab Mobility Council, has chosen Mike Frisby and Assoc. of Washington, D.C., to head up what officials call "an awareness-building process that we need to pursue for the long term."

"I think if nothing else, it is symbolic for the industry to actually fight back, because we've been battered by this frontal assault from the government on what we do to help people," said Tim Pederson, chair of the CRMC and CEO of WestMed Rehab, Rapid City, S.D.

"What we are going to do is come back swinging and put a human face on it," Pederson continued. "Basically, we are tired of being kicked to the curb. It distorts the good work that we do, and we need to get the real story out there — the human side of it, the lives that we make a difference to."

The main catalyst for the new campaign was a report issued last August by the Office of Inspector General on the acquisition costs of power wheelchairs. The OIG later acknowledged the report to be flawed because it did not take into consideration the cost of services attached to providing PWCs.

"The OIG study was inherently unfair," Pederson told HomeCare earlier. "It took a limited sample of claims data from the first six months of 2007 when the industry was in turmoil. The timing is unfortunate, unfair and does not reflect reality."

Still, the Department of Health and Human Services has persisted in using the incorrect data to lobby for further reductions in the power wheelchair benefit, which has already been cut some 37 percent, AAHomecare pointed out in its first "Mobility Matters" fax, sent to Congress and policymakers March 31.

That has propelled AAHomecare into the PR effort.

"The HME mobility community has seen a huge decline in reimbursement rates for power wheelchairs and, at the same time, an enormous spike in documentation and administrative burdens," said Michael Reinemer, vice president, communications and policy, for AAHomecare. "So we want to make sure that the media, Congress and policymakers get accurate information.

Reinemer said there are three primary goals for the campaign.