New Medicare wheelchair plan could hurt Pride
Four of area’s lawmakers, who get cash from Exeter firm’s PAC, seek to block stricter regulations.
By DAVE JANOSKI djanoski@leader.net

Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators and two local congressmen want to delay new, stricter Medicare policies they say might deny the elderly and disabled access to power wheelchairs. The new policies could also hurt wheelchair manufacturer Pride Mobility Products Corp., one of Luzerne County’s largest employers and the source of more than $57,000 in campaign cash for the four federal legislators.

U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood and Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum recently sent letters to high-ranking Bush administration officials seeking to delay the new policies, set to take effect Oct. 1. The wheelchair industry and groups representing the disabled are concerned the rules could “create major disruptions to the power mobility industry and result in the denial of coverage for appropriate devices,” Sherwood wrote to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.

U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski was drafting a similar letter on Thursday, according to his press secretary, Gretchen Wintermantel.

All four legislators would like the new rules to be delayed until next year so regulators can gather more input.

The new rules would replace 13-year-old regulations written before an explosion in sales and models in the power wheelchair industry.

The old rules place most power wheelchairs in one category with a Medicare ceiling of about $5,300. According to federal regulators, Medicare often pays significantly more than the going retail price for power wheelchairs because of the lack of more detailed classifications.

The new rules would set up more than 60 classifications or “codes” for power wheelchairs and similar devices, based on power, size and accessories. The rules would lay out what types of patients would qualify for each classification and the price Medicare would pay for each.

In a statement released Thursday, Exeter-based Pride Mobility Products Corp. said the new rules “are detrimental to Americans with disabilities and seniors as well as to those who serve them.”

It praised Santorum, Specter, Sherwood and Kanjorski, whose district includes the company’s Exeter headquarters, for understanding the effect the rules “will have on disabled Americans’ and seniors’ ability to lead independent lives” and “the importance of our business to the local economy and to our employees.”

The company declined further comment.

Pride Mobility, a privately held company founded in 1986, employs about 1,100, most of them in Luzerne County, and has subsidiaries in Europe, Latin America, Australia and Japan.

Specter press secretary Scott Hoeflich said the decision to implement the new rules “may have the potential to cost hundreds of jobs in Northeast Pennsylvania.”

Spokesmen for Specter, Santorum and Sherwood – who are all Republicans – said their position against the new rules had nothing to do with sizeable campaign donations the three received from the Pride Mobility Products Corp. Political Action Committee and the Meuser family, which owns and runs the company.

The PAC, funded almost exclusively through contributions from company owners and executives, and the Meusers have given Specter $20,650, Santorum $15,300 and Sherwood $14,300 since 2002, according to the Federal Election Commission.

While the PAC and family donate mostly to Republican candidates and groups, Kanjorski, a Nanticoke Democrat, has received $7,500.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/15524507.htm
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Times Leader Associate Editor Dave Janoski can be reached at 829-7255.