Missouri Governor OKs Medicaid DME Cuts

Jefferson City, Mo.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt has signed legislation that eliminates the state requirement to fund DME for adults on Medicaid.

The new law gives the state the option to fund certain equipment through its budget each year. In the 2006 budget, some items, including wheelchairs, oxygen and diabetic supplies, will be funded, but others, such as wheelchair accessories and batteries, hospital beds and orthotics, will not be covered.

“There is no rationale to pay for an electric wheelchair but not a battery,” said Rose Schafhauser, executive director of the Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services. “What good is it going to do? You’re going to increase the amount [the state] will have to pay because [people] will be stuck in a hospital or nursing home.”

In the meantime, the association is investigating “to see if the state has the authority to do what they did” and educate lawmakers on the issue, she said.

The new legislation, which takes effect Aug. 28, also will remove 100,000 beneficiaries from the program rolls.

In protest to Blunt’s signing the legislation, eight people chained their wheelchairs to a door in the Missouri state capitol in late April. At one point during the more than two-hour demonstration, an estimated 100 people blocked the doorway as they chanted to meet with Blunt. Many disabled Missourians claim the legislation will prevent them from living independently.