I'm curious

» courage - Does this happen a lot?

I'm getting a new wheelchair today. I know this is a good thing, but it took almost 7 months for me to get it. My medical insurance didn't pay for the chair until just now. In the mean time, I've been using one loaner chair after another. One had breaks that didn't work, one had no breaks at all, and one was too small. I finally received a call from the pharmacy today. They asked when they could deliver my new wheelchair. I told them that I'd be around this afternoon to receive it. I was very pleased with the news.
Does it usually take a long time to get a new wheelchair? Has anyone been in this situation before? What can I do to prevent this from happening in the future. Any advice that anyone can give me would be appreciated.
Thank you.

-- posted by courage

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» TvBabe - Re: Does this happen a lot?

In response to message posted by courage:

Well Courage there are a few details you've left out that other's might find helpful answering your question.

For example, your location, the type of medical insurance coverage you have. Do you have to pay for your wheelchair first and then your medical insurance re-emburses you for the expense.

In my situation.... I'm in Vancouver Canada, if I required the use of a wheelchair I would require my doctor complete a form "prescribing" it, which I would take to a few medical supply houses to test drive which wheelchair would work for me. Then I would have to purchase the chair with my own money followed by submitting the bill to my insurance carrier. (Some of these medical supply houses will actually bill me for the chair allowing enough time for the cheque to arrive from my insurance carrier.) After around 3-4 weeks I would receive a cheque for the chair.

Obviously we have a different set of circumstancs when it comes to our medical coverage on how they pay for these mobility aids.

Maybe some of my readers who use wheelchairs might be able to provide you with either some much needed answers to your questions or maybe they've found some short cuts you haven't discovered that might speed up the process for your next chair

-- posted by TvBabe

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» wvkntrygal - Re: Does this happen a lot?

In response to message posted by courage:

Hi Courage,

My brother has been in a wheelchair since 1983, and has faced the same problem. It always seems to take forever for him to receive a chair and can only have a new one every few years. I find this very degrading and in a sense abusive.

When someone relies upon certain things, whether it be a wheelchair or another form of reliance, and the help doesn't arrive as expected or needed it can become life threatening.

My brother has dealt with several of the same issues with worn out chairs. Flat tires and holes in his cushion are just two of the problems he has faced. When someone relies upon such and it fails to provide him with the proper expectations, thus causing serious complications; again, it becomes life threatening. Just as a diabetic relies upon insulin, he relies upon his chair.

He is paralyzed from the waist down and his wheelchair is a part of him now and for someone to have that much control to say you don't need one for such and such a time is inhuman!

Most of us don't think of things like this, but I hope that one-day, the public's eyes will be open to the special needs of the disabled. (Especially parking in a handicap spot in a parking lot~! Do you realize that a wheelchair requires more space because the door has to be opened all the way?) Anyway, hang in there some of us do care!

God Bless You~!

-- posted by wvkntrygal

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