[visual description: The Right Wheelchair Campaign logo is shown. A stick figure pushing a wheelchair is shown to the left and the words Right Wheelchair Campaign are to the right. The lettering and figure is white and the background is blue.}
United Spinal is running the Right Wheelchair Campaign - to correct the problems in the system with current regulations such as the In Home Medicare restriction that affects a person's ability to get the right wheelchair for their needs. I'd ask you to click above and take a few minutes to read some of the stories about how peoples' lives are being disrupted and how people remain housebound unnecessarily due to current policies- and being in the wrong wheelchair.
This situation is made worse by the high cost of purchasing a wheelchair. An ultralight wheelchair's price starts at several thousands of dollars once you've customized it and can run as high as $6000. An electric wheelchair starts between $4000 to $6000 and can run as high as $12,000 - or more. (Comments are welcome as to prices you've found - I'm guess-timating here to give readers an idea.)
If you agree that these policies need to be changed, please join the Right Wheelchair Campaign.
5 comments:
A most useful campaign!
I agree that wheelchairs are too expensive.
I have an ultralight which cost £2200 ($4400) - CRAZY!!
My lightweight cost about $3000 although that did have a custom seat. It's just crazy how they can triple or quadruple the price of anything just by calling it adaptive equipment.
I'm not sure if it's true everywhere, but sometimes one has to order the custom wheelchair without being able to test it out first. This is especially tough when when the person who will use it also has some cognitive impairments. In her 90s, my aunt was persuaded that a particular powered wheelchair was going to be just what she needed. But the person making that choice had not spent much time with her and didn't understand her activities. She was prevented by Medicare and insurance regs from getting a second, and the company would not take it back. Years later, a better OT/PT team got approval for a new chair - and she was able to do many of her former activities.
My scooter, a Pride Maxima, which has no adaptations except that I didn't buy any armrests for it, was half-price because it was used, $1850.
and my manual chair, an evermed bariatric model, cost me $1350 in 1999 --- nine months of every spare penny I had while I was still working. And of course no insurance helped with either of them because I still walk some, just not far enough or pain-free enough........
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