New Medicare rules threaten amputees' access to prosthetics

The new proposed rules made under Medicare have threatened its affordability and accessibility for amputees.

Under the new Medicare proposal, amputees are required to be able to walk naturally using the prosthetic limb without the assistance of a cane or any walking device. Amputees and opposing groups find this new rule to be unfair. The report by Tech Times infers that the new proposed rules would make it harder for many amputees to afford or gain access to prosthetics.

Two amputee groups who are very vocal about their opposition of the new rules are the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association and the Amputee Coalition, who according to the outlet will be conducting protests.

"It is very difficult to imagine any other aspect of American healthcare where millions of people would be denied available and appropriate treatment and devices that can speed their return to the fullest and most active possible life," Charlie Dankmeyer, president of the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association, said in a press release published in Amputee Coalition's website. "Even worse, there is no medical or scientific justification for these unreasonable and inappropriate hurdles that would amount to a return to a 1970s standard of care."

The website listed the key concerns of the opponents of the proposed regulations. The coalition fears the following: that amputees who have been using assistive devices such as a cane, crutch or walker may now be limited to "less functional prosthetic devices," that amputees will be denied of prosthetics or a less functional one, be denied access to "best available care" because of common underlying conditions such as asthma or high blood pressure, and that new amputees will be forced to use "out-of-date technology" for rehabilitation.

According to the report by CNN, if the proposal gets approved, over 150,000 amputees could be affected and that the US Department of Veterans Affairs and private insurance companies would follow the regulation.

The proposal came about as the Department of Health and Human Services found that Medicare has have a 27 percent increased spending on lower limb prosthetics in a 2011 audit compared to 2005 to 2009, even while Medicare beneficiaries who are amputees requiring lower limb prosthetics have lessened during that year.

In the report by UPI, a petition to revoke the proposal addressed to the White House has already had more than 100,000 signatures. There will also be a protest scheduled at 2 p.m. on Wed. after the public hearing as well.