My Father is Paralyzed From Chest Down and has medicaid but they wont pay for a new wheelchair what can i do?
My father was paralyzed in 2008 result of a car wreck. he is now collecting disability and has full medicaid. his mother passed away one year before he was paralyzed leaving behind a Jazzy (electric wheelchair) it is now becoming wore out and he would like to get a new one, but with his only income being disability and only insurance medicaid they wont pay for it, what does he need to do? is there any programs or support out there for him? he lives in Alabama any useful info would be greatly appreciated. thanks!
All great suggestions but the scooter store and others like it is for medicare only. he has medicaid not medicare, the only thing they will cover is your everyday wheelchair but considering he is paralyzed from chest down he has no balance or control over holding up his upper body meaning he has to use one hand to hold his self balance and the other to operate the wheelchair. I have spent hours on the phone with medicaid and all they do is give me the run around. call this # and call this # its all bull. I don't know what to tell y'all except don't get injured and not have some sort of insurance cause your government sure ain't gonna take care of you, other than his little nothing of a disability check 647$ a month come on who can live off of that he paid in way more then he's getting out but i guess they considering him being this way for the rest of his life but they wont buy him a wheelchair
July 15th, 2010 - 10:19
has he had a PT eval for the wheelchair company? He needs a full eval. He also needs a doctors eval and a prescription saying "A power wheelchair is medically necessary." Usually the PT eval is a must though.
July 15th, 2010 - 10:19
Well Chris, there is a program out there for the hover round. They file your medicaid or medicare and get you approved. If this doesn’t work keep looking at second hand thrift shops or your local Goodwill. You could even talk to the managers and tell them what you are trying to do. They also may know of something used and in good shape. Sorry I couldn’t help more.
July 15th, 2010 - 10:19
I keep seeing ads on tv for something called Scooter Store (or something like that) i think they were saying that medicaid will pay for a new scooter for disabled folks…
i’ll google it.
yeah- here ya go: http://www.thescooterstore.com/mobility/spur/ppc/07/?code=INT806YP1&P=8668364652<ype=ppc-BrandLPControl1
just read your additional details… sorry- that really sucks.
i would start looking into charitable organizations… someone somewhere out there will be willing to help your dad… such a sad story. Best of luck to you guys. You’re a GOOD SON!
July 15th, 2010 - 10:19
It makes no sense that medicaid won’t pay for it — what is their reason? I think Medicaid has ways you can appeal their decisions, you might want to ask them. I don’t know of any programs that might help (I don’t know anything about AL), but maybe you could try looking online for a used wheelchair for sell that your father could afford. What about those motorized chairs on TV, that say they bill Medicare for you…maybe they will work with medicaid??
July 15th, 2010 - 10:19
Is he a veteran? You could call the Veterans Administration, even if this was not as a result of his service, they might help. How about the Lion’s Club? Also, Medicaid would pay for it to be repaired if they did not purchase it in the first place; and get him a loaner until it was repaired. I find it hard to believe they never paid for one in the first place since he is paralyzed from the chest down…but it would not surprise me as they have a lot of strange rules. I would have his doctor write a letter to Medicaid asking for the coverage for one. That sometimes is the most helpful.