PWC Report Sparks Efforts to Educate OIG

ARLINGTON, Va. — Response to a recent HHS Office of Inspector General report on power wheelchair costs has escalated into action on the part of the American Association for Homecare and the National Coalition for Assistive Rehabilitation Technology, with a cost analysis and a possible meeting with OIG representatives in the works.

In an effort to “broaden understanding” of the cost of services related to providing power wheelchairs to Medicare beneficiaries, AAHomecare is putting the finishing touches on an analysis of those costs to present to the OIG, according to Alexandra Bennewith, senior manager of government affairs for AAHomecare.

Bennewith said she hoped the OIG would accept — and respect — the information. “We’re the ones who have the detailed information about how the industry works,” she said.

The analysis is in response to the OIG’s August report, “Power Wheelchairs in the Medicare Program: Supplier Acquisition Costs and Services,” which asserts that Medicare vastly overpays for both standard power and complex rehab wheelchairs.

The report acknowledges that there is a service component involved in providing PWCs, “such as assembling and delivering it and educating the beneficiary about its use.” But in its findings, the OIG admits, “We did not determine the cost of performing these services or other general supplier business expenses, such as billing, accreditation, staff salaries, or facility maintenance.”

That admission angered stakeholders and prompted immediate responses from both AAHomecare and NCART, along with others from NRRTS and the Power Mobility Coalition, all calling the report incomplete and misleading.

Don Clayback, NCART executive director, said the OIG report particularly concerns him because “from a non-emotional perspective, it is really an incomplete report and it leads the reader to the wrong conclusion. That’s why I think the complete story has to be told.”

Among other discrepancies and omissions in the report, Clayback cited the OIG’s contention that standard power wheelchair providers offer five services and complex rehab providers only seven. “We have 31 services,” he said, noting that several of them are not just one-time events but are recurring.

Clayback has taken his concerns to members of the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means committee and the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, as well as to some consumer groups.

“I had two good meetings last week on the Hill,” he said, noting that legislators are familiar with the OIG report and have been receptive to hearing the industry’s points about it being incomplete and misleading. “We’ve been getting some good traction.”

Clayback said he has also put in a request for a face-to-face meeting with OIG representatives, which he hopes can come about soon.

“This is the kind of report that is going to get fairly wide circulation. Response has to go fairly broad and fairly deep and we have to be proactive,” he said. “Hopefully, by being proactive, we can at least get all the facts out there so people can make educated observations.”