Home Health & Hospice Week

NCART protests coverage restrictions at governors' meeting.

The durable medical equipment industry wants the Show-Me State to show it some love.

Missouri this month began implementing Medicaid cuts that will block thousands of beneficiaries' access to power wheelchair accessories, scooters, nebulizers and other medical equipment - and DME providers aren't taking the cuts lying down. The industry has launched a public-relations campaign targeting not only Missouri but all states that attempt to balance their budgets at DME's expense.

The National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology protested Missouri's $231 million Medicaid cuts at the National Governors Association's annual meeting, which kicked off July 16 in Des Moines, IA. The effort was part of NCART's new initiative focusing attention on cuts to state Medicaid programs.

The DME industry group distributed brochures blasting Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) for taking benefits from 90,000 of the state's most vulnerable citizens. NCART also distributed press releases in which Executive Director Sharon Hildebrandt called the Missouri cuts "inhumane and senseless."

"Gov. Blunt is seeking to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, our children and the elderly," Hildebrandt stated in the release. "We want other governors around the nation to know that there will be a political price to pay if they follow the same shameful path as Missouri."

The brochure notes that the federal government has previously warned the state against providing only partial coverage for DME. But this year, the governors are pressing Congress to adopt a package of reform proposals - which include giving states more control over which benefits to offer. Taking the Power From Power Wheelchairs During the fiscal year that began this month, more than 90,000 of Missouri's 1 million Medicaid recipients will be dropped from the rolls. Among the benefits cut is coverage for DME such as wheelchair batteries and cushions, three-wheeled scooters, all-body braces, catheters, canes, crutches and walkers.

"They're picking and choosing as to what DME items can be covered, and it's our understanding that's against Medicaid rules," Hildebrandt tells Eli. "There has to be some rationale for it."

For example, the state will cover power wheelchairs but not the costly batteries for those chairs. It will cover oxygen but not continuous positive airway pressure devices. It will cover respiratory drugs but not nebulizers to administer the drugs. The uneven coverage policy is counterproductive and will ultimately result in beneficiaries requiring hospitalization and other costly interventions, NCART argues.

Missouri's cuts come as states are under growing pressure to control Medicaid expenditures. The Bush administration is seeking to trim $10 billion in spending growth from the program over the next five years.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt this month named 13 voting and 15 nonvoting members of a panel charged with advising him on those cuts [...]