I am an amputee for 16 years with multiple complications. Every time I try to get a wheelchair that is lightweight, the wheelchair companies try to sell me one that’s overkill. I just want a lightweight wheelchair that I can lift into my car and that is low enough so I can am ulate in my home when not wearing a prosthesis. I would love to get a $1200 wheelchair that folds up to go in my car that will make it easier for me to go and do activities like go on nature walks, go to fairs, etc. and have better life quality, but these darn wheelchair companies keep insisting I need a $5000-$8000 wheelchair. Why can’t I get the wheelchair that comes apart and a portable, adjustable ramp that I can have cheaply installed in any home I buy or rent instead of having to do without or accept a wheelchair that is not useful because the medical equipment providers don’t want to give me what I want?
Medicare and Medicaid should be pro-actively providing mobility tools to recipients that provide USEFUL mobility aids to recipients instead of providing OVERKILL mobility aids that sit around collecting dust and only benefit the sellers. For too long, providers of wheelchairs and other mobility aids to Medicare consumers have raped the government for funding, instead of providing the right aids to people who need them. It should be the policy of Medicare to provide the right mobility tools.