07/01/2020

Medicare Rates Increase for CRT Manual Wheelchair Accessories

Message from NCART

 

In the midst of all the present challenges facing CRT access, we are pleased to report that the positive result of our big legislative win from last December is now in effect.

As you may recall, at the end of 2019 Congress passed legislation to do two things: (a) provide an exemption from the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program (CBP) for CRT manual wheelchairs and accessories; and (b) provide an 18-month suspension of Medicare applying CBP payment rates to CRT manual wheelchair accessories from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. These were both major accomplishments in protecting access for people with disabilities. 

CMS needed time to get the new payment rates into the claims processing system. As of today the Medicare Fee Schedules officially reflect these updates. Here is a summary of what that means for CRT suppliers: 

• Suppliers can now use the KU modifier when billing CRT manual wheelchair accessories for dates of service July 1 and after. 
• For previous claims submitted with dates of service of January 1 to June 30, suppliers can submit for a retroactive payment adjustment through a streamlined re-submission process using a Reopening Request Form. 
• Additional details and instructions can be found here.

Thanks go to Congress and CMS for their support on this issue, as well as to all the CRT advocates and organizations who worked hard to make this happen. 

OAMES would like to thank our members in the CRT field, NCART and other CRT stakeholders for this tremendous accomplishment.