Choices for Increased Mobility Act of 2024

United Spinal met with staff for the Senate Aging Committee to discuss next steps to increase funding for the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. United Spinal seeks legislative or report language directing the National Institute of Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to collaboratively conduct a pilot program measuring the potential beneficial health and functional short- and long-term outcomes and health cost savings achieved from extended lengths of stay in initial traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation settings by employing needed technologies and enhancing consumer training. United Spinal Association supports "Connect For Health Act" which protects and extends Medicare reimbursement for telehealth. United Spinal supports legislation to improve wheelchair service repair and reform. United Spinal supports Medicare coverage for transanal irrigation for bowel management for individuals with neurogenic bowel. United Spinal supports Choices for Increased Mobility Act, H.R. 5371/S.5154 that will allow Medicare beneficiaries to obtain access to titanium and carbon fiber wheelchair frames. Congress must act to reinstate beneficiaries ability to upgrade to titanium and carbon fiber wheelchairs, at their own cost, if they so wish. Spoke with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on the continuation of recognizing September's Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month along with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI, now that Sen. Rubio has been nominated as Secretary of State. As a member of the Disability & Rehabilitation Research Coalition, United Spinal signed onto comments in response to the Request for Information (RFI): Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Developments (NICHD) Strategic Plan for 2025-2029 (NOT-HD-24-028). Following the September implantable brain computer interface collaborative workshop at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, United Spinal participated in workshop meetings with FDA staff and other stakeholders through the Fall. United Spinal Association endorsed a Coalition to Preserve Rehabilitation/Habilitation Benefits Coalition letter to the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) at CMS about possible solutions to therapy caps.

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $75,000

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), SENATE

Issues pertaining to durable medical equipment including competitive bidding, power wheelchairs, oxygen, non-invasive ventilators, diabetic supplies, negative pressure wound therapy, Medicare audits, and sequestration; Issues related to Medicare sequestration paygo relief legislation; Issues related to the non-application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex rehabilitative wheelchairs manual accessories, titanium/carbon upgrade legislation, and Medicare coverage of seat elevation and standing features; S.1294 - Competitive Bidding Relief Act of 2023 (issues related to Medicare reimbursement cuts in DME noncompetitive bidding areas); Issues related to the COVID-19 public health emergency; H.R.7623 - Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103) (issues related to coding and payment for the new required benefit regarding disposable negative pressure wound therapy devices); H.R.4189 - CONNECT for Health Act of 2023; H.R.5555 - DEMPOS Relief Act of 2023; H.R.5371/S.5154 - Choices for Increased Mobility Act of 2023; H.R.7147/S.3630 - Medicare Transaction Fraud Prevention Act.

Client expense: $250,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Government Accountability Office (GAO), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE

Issues pertaining to durable medical equipment including competitive bidding, power wheelchairs, oxygen, non-invasive ventilators, diabetic supplies, negative pressure wound therapy, Medicare audits, and sequestration; Issues related to Medicare sequestration paygo relief legislation; Issues related to the non-application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex rehabilitative wheelchairs manual accessories, titanium/carbon upgrade legislation, and Medicare coverage of seat elevation and standing features; Issues related to Medicare reimbursement cuts in DME noncompetitive bidding areas. S.1294 - Competitive Bidding Relief Act of 2023; Issues related to the COVID-19 public health emergency and expansion of telehealth act; Implementation of the Better Wound Care at Home Act of 2021; H.R.4189 - CONNECT for Health Act of 2023; H.R.5555 - DEMPOS Relief Act of 2023; H.R.5371/S.5154 - Choices for Increased Mobility Act of 2023; S.3630/H.R.7147 - Medicare Transaction Fraud Prevention Act.

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $60,000

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), SENATE