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REDDING, Calif. - It's not uncommon for wheelchair users or their family members to take out classified ads in local newspapers to sell wheelchairs they no longer need. It is uncommon for HME providers to take out ads to buy them.
But in the months leading up to the elimination of the first-month purchase option for standard power wheelchairs, that's exactly what's happening in California, according to industry sources.
"The ads are in the shopper or penny saver and they're offering $300 to $500 for any used power wheelchair in good working order," said Tom Lambert, president of Maximum Comfort, who's seen the ads in Redding, Calif., where he's based, and heard of them in San Diego.
On Jan. 1, Medicare plans to start paying for standard power wheelchairs over 13 months instead of in one lump sum in the first month, a move that providers say will put them in a cash-flow crunch.
The way industry sources see it, the providers who are taking out the ads plan to buy used wheelchairs for $500 instead of new wheelchairs for $900 to $1,500 and provide those to beneficiaries. As long as they're not in a competitive bidding area, they'll still get paid the same by Medicare.
"If you can buy a used wheelchair cheap, then you're home free in the first month," said Lambert, who doesn't do business with Medicare. "Everything else is gravy."
HME News contacted a handful of providers outside of California and, while none of them had seen or heard of the ads being published in their areas, they weren't surprised.
