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Q: We are very interested in your product. My mother has Parkinson’s and has difficulty getting around after a few minutes. Does Medicare pay for this? We’d greatly appreciate any information you could give us.

A: Medicare has certain coverage criteria that must be met before they will pay for equipment. For a scooter or power chair to be considered medically necessary, all of the following coverage criteria must be met:

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Your condition is such that a wheelchair is required for you to get around in your home, You are unable to operate a manual wheelchair,

You are capable of safely operating the controls of the scooter or power chair, and

In addition, a patient who requires a scooter usually cannot perform functional ambulation skills and has limited strength or use of the upper extremities. The patient should also have adequate trunk stability to “hold” themselves upright in the seat. Note: An individual who requires a power wheelchair is totally non-ambulatory and has severe weakness of the upper extremities that prevents them from self-propelling in a manual wheelchair.


	Q: Our son had a car accident four years ago and the result is he is now wheelchair-bound, and he is brain injured. He has the use of one arm, and so can manipulate a wheelchair, but would do so much better in an electric wheelchair. We have looked at the Jazzy 1100 at a dealership in San Antonio. He has Medicare and Medicaid but because he can use the arm to propel a wheelchair he won’t qualify for help in obtaining one that way. Are there other alternatives?

	A: I would recommend that you call the Texas Assistive Technology Partnership Project. They may be able to assist you with funding resources. I spoke with a representative from this organization and I told him that I would be passing on his phone number so you could contact them. You can reach that organization at 800-828-7839.