Medicare Open Enrollment

Have you seen the commercials and pop-up ads on mobile devices with sport and Hollywood personalities of former decades promoting the benefits of different health plans?  Yes, it is Medicare Open Enrollment season.  The flood of ads feels as annoying as the political ads before elections.  Let me take this opportunity to give a shout out to the important resource at your local Area Agency on Aging Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elderly (SHINE) program to assist with selecting the right plan to meet your healthcare needs and goals.

Watch Out, Medicare Pays for Ugly DME

It is time for us to offer the Medicare recipients equipment that is cool. Let us normalize the idea of showing our personality through our mobility aids. Frankly, the first step is for Medicare to stop paying for outdated, undesirable equipment.

Here’s an example of what happens millions of times in our system. My mother was discharged from a rehabilitation stay with a  hospital issued folding walker.  The folding feature is spot on.  However, the walker is too tall and heavy for her to use and at this time she barely sees over the cross bar. Now, when my mother dresses for church and she’s all put together, do you think she will finish off her outfit with that unsightly, heavy, and noisy walker?  Of course not.  Dignity is central element to the right DME ‘fit.’

Pimp Your Ride

Have you attended a golf cart parade in a fifty-five plus planned community?  Golf carts took a right turn off the links and onto the streets and trails in many towns across the country.  These carts are great for extending the abilities of many to do their own shopping, attend social events, go to group exercise classes, and, well, golf.  Owners encourage each other to personalize their ride. You know, show-off who are you without saying a word.

Prosthetic Leg Artwork

Like the golf cart movement, prosthetics are showing their owner’s identities and style. Prosthetics limbs are more visible today just like tattoos. Self-expression is diming the stigma of disability which is great for all of us.

Mobility Devices

Millions of walkers, rollator, canes, wheelchairs, and other mobility equipment roll off the hospital shelves and into homes every year. Unfortunately, much of that equipment, covered by Medicare, ends up in a closet or basement hidden and idle. Who wants an institutional looking walker that screams ‘I am vulnerable.’  The lack of acceptable mobility support imprisons people in their home.

I snapped this photo on a recent visit to Amsterdam.  I was thrilled to see this cool carbon fiber rollator chained up on the sidewalk posts like the bikes in downtown Amsterdam. My interpretation is the owner is unafraid, maybe proud of their cool equipment.

CMS must wake up to the incredible waste that unused DME is to our nation. We all want to live and interact with dignity, as equals to those around us.  Amputees figured out how to make the loss of a limb a statement of strength and perseverance, we can do the same for all who need mobility devices.

Lifestyle and Affordability

People age with multiple chronic health conditions for decades.  The goal is maximizing their abilities and resources with the right equipment.  And remember, our needs change over time so this is not a once and done event.  Our lifestyle and health cannot be separated. New carbon fiber colorful mobility options are wonderful; however, price and lack of insurance reimbursement are out-of-reach for people living with limited income. These lightweight models are great for public transportation and navigating sidewalks and cross walks.

It is time we demand the DME manufacturers produce mobility options that people desire and can afford, then we take the demands to Washington.