Fwd: [ Victory with CMS Wheelchair Policy

[Guest guest]

Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 07:18:12 -0500 From: "Ruralal" <ruralal@...>Subject: Fw: Victory with CMS Wheelchair Policy----- Original Message ----- From: "Justice For All Moderator" <jfa@...><justice@...>Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 11:28 PMSubject: Victory with CMS Wheelchair Policy> "Victory with CMS Wheelchair Policy"> > CMS has retracted its Power Wheelchair Policy > Clarification! Congratulations to disability advocates > around the country, and particularly the ITEM Coalition, > for urging CMS to reevaluate its policy.> > Below please find an introductory message from the ITEM > Coalition, followed by the retraction notification from > CMS.> > Young> JFA Moderator, AAPD> > ================================> > The ITEM Coalition is pleased to announce that CMS has > retracted its Power Wheelchair Policy Clarification issued > in December, 2003 based on concerns raised by stakeholders > such as the ITEM Coalition! Together we have made a real > difference!> > Pasted below is a notification from the Director of CMS' > Congressional Affairs Group to congressional health > staffers stating that the Policy Clarification is being > retracted (the notification is available on > http://www.insidehealthpolicy.com/). The > notification further states that CMS will hold another Open > Door Forum to address further issues and concerns related > to the Medicare power wheelchair benefit. CMS is also > apparently going to issue a press release outlining key > themes it heard in the comments it received in the > Listening Session held earlier this month. > > CMS' action directly corresponds with the ITEM Coalition's > recommendations in its two letters to Secretary > and comments to the CMS Listening Session. In these > documents, the Coalition advocated for the Clarification to > be rescinded and for a new policy to be proposed with an > opportunity for public comments. We are drafting a press > release commending Secretary and CMS Administrator > McClellan for this action and also praising Senate Finance > Committee Chairman Grassley for his helpful efforts on this > issue.> > The Steering Committee would like to thank the membership > for all their hard work on this issue! We will provide > more information on future steps by CMS when they are > announced.> > =============================> > U.S. House and Senate Notification> Thursday, March 18, 2004> > Congressional Health Staffer> From: Carleen Talley> Director, Congressional Affars Group> Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services> Subject: CMS Plans to Announce Actions to Address Power> Wheelchair Concerns> > > I know that many of you have inquired with concerns > regarding power wheelchairs and a recent bulletin which > suppliers have asserted represents a change in CMS policy. > Accordingly, I wanted to let you know that CMS has decided > to retract the December 9, 2003 Durable Medical Equipment > Regional r (DMERC) Article which was intended to> reiterate our coverage policy on power wheelchairs. The > coverage policy remains unchanged from when it was > originally put into place in 1985. CMS will continue to pay > claims as it has prior to and following the issuance of the > December 9, 2003 DMERC Article. > > We are taking this action in response to concerns voiced by > the power wheelchair community which were brought to the > agency's attention through our Open Door Forums and > Listening Sessions held in February and March. We will be > providing more information on additional action steps> that will soon follow. Specifically, CMS is planning to > issue a press release shortly which will review the eight > primary themes garnered from the multiple Listening > Sessions and Open Door Forums on this issue, and> will provide CMS' response to the issues raised. In > addition, we will soon hold a follow-up Open Door Forum at > which all four Medical Directors from the DMERCs will be > present. We will continue to keep you updated as we have > additional information.> > If you have questions, please contact Tricia Rodgers (690-> 5445) on my staff. > Thank you.> > Amelia Steed> Congressional Liaison, Regions I & X> Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services> Office of Legislation/Congressional Affairs Group> (202) 690-7125> (202) 690-8168 fax> > # # #> > =====================> > JOIN AAPD! There's strength in numbers! Be a part of a > national coalition of people with disabilities and join > AAPD today. http://www.aapd-dc.org> > > JFA ARCHIVES. All JFA postings from 1995 to present are > available at:> http://www.aapd-dc.org/JFA/JFAabout.html > > > NOTE: Some Internet Providers (including AOL, Earthlink and > Juno) may see JFA postings as spam because of the large > volume of JFA mail recipients and fail to deliver the > posting. If this happens, the JFA system may automatically > unsubscribe some email addresses. Should you stop receiving > JFA Alerts, please subscribe to JFA again as per the > instructions at > http://www.aapd-dc.org/JFA/JFAsubscribing.html> You may also need to contact your service provider to find > out how to prevent JFA postings from being recognized as > spam.> > PLEASE EMPTY YOUR EMAIL INBOX REGULARLY. JFA automatically > deletes subscribers that are over their message quota. > If you stop using an account please unsubscribe that old > account. > > With hundreds of inbound emails and thousands of outbound > emails daily, JFA can not respond to every message.> > We thank you for your understanding and continued > outstanding advocacy!> > > JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of the> American Association of People with Disabilities> http://www.aapd-dc.org/JFA/JFAabout.html > > =====================================================================> Justice-For-All FREE Subscriptions> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@...> with one or the other in the body of your message:> subscribe justice> unsubscribe justice>

There are 20 messages in this issue.

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1. Re: Fwd: Fw: Bill 602 P

From: " Ruralal " <ruralal@...>

2. Re: Fwd: Fw: Bill 602 P

From: Schoenfeld <frank_james@...>

3. 602P

From: " Ruralal " <ruralal@...>

4. Re: 602P

From: disabledunited@...

5. Re: 602P

From: " Ruralal " <ruralal@...>

6. goodwill industries.

From: Gardner <ldgardner@...>

7. Re: goodwill industries.

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8. Re: goodwill industries.

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9. town Gas

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10. Re: town Gas

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11. To Fellow members and all, disability rights

From: " james m nordlund " <jamesmnordlund@...>

12. Fw: [NYAPRS E-News] Senate Leader Bruno's Hometown Paper Urges Him

toPass 's Law

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14. Fw: [NYAPRS E-News] Alert: Urge NY Senators to Reject the

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18. Fw: ADAPT Goes to Washington

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19. Fw: Victory with CMS Wheelchair Policy

From: " Ruralal " <ruralal@...>

20. Fw: CA Democratic Platform on Disability

From: " Ruralal " <ruralal@...>

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Message: 1

Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 12:14:52 -0500

From: " Ruralal " <ruralal@...>

Subject: Re: Fwd: Fw: Bill 602 P

That is a hoax bill number.

Not that it wont happen.

----- Original Message -----

From: <disabledunited@...>

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Cc: <DisabledUnited@...>

Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 9:43 AM

Subject: [Disability-Rights-News-and-Views] Fwd: Fw: Bill 602 P

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