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Permobil Hosts Celebration for Passage of New Bill Making Tennessee the First State to Require Medicaid Reimbursement for Annual Preventative Maintenance

Lebanon, TN -- On September 5th, Permobil will celebrate the historic passage of the first-of-its-kind repair reform legislation, giving CRT users better protections and access to preventative maintenance.
Permobil collaborated with the Tennessee Disability Coalition, and other CRT companies to help Tennessee legislators draft the bill and ask them to consider voting for the bill, which was passed unanimously in both state chambers.
“Improving reliable access to repair services for individuals who utilize CRT equipment has been sorely needed,” said Chuck Witkowski, president of Permobil Americas. “We were honored to partner with other advocates from this community and help share their experienced feedback on this important subject. Together, we identified meaningful ways to enhance policies and safeguards and then worked hand-in-hand to introduce and pass legislation that made those changes a reality.”
The celebration will be held at Permobil's Lebanon offices on Thursday, September 5th, from 1-3 p.m. It will include comments from the Tennessee Disability Coalition, the American Association for Homecare, legislators, and other stakeholders who pushed this bill over the finish line. There will also be opportunities to tour Permobil's state-of-the-art production facility. Members of the media are also welcome to attend (if there is interest, please contact us below).
“The new law eliminates unnecessary and duplicative hurdles to repair, creates flexibility to suit the needs of the user and establishes proactive measures to reduce the number of broken lifelines in the first place,” said Jeff Strand, public policy director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition. “People of all stripes just want to live their lives, and this legislation helps them do just that.”
Because of this law, Tennessee has become the first state that would require Medicaid reimbursement for CRT preventative maintenance.
“It's a user-focused victory that signals a transformative shift in how we prioritize and protect wheelchair users' access to timely repairs,” said Alexis Ward, senior director of payer relations for the American Association for Homecare.
As part of the law, Tennesseans who utilize CRT wheelchairs will have enhanced access to certain components of their equipment, TennCare beneficiaries will now have annual preventative maintenance coverage to reduce the need of more extensive repairs, and any supplier will be required to offer repair services to the CRT wheelchairs they provide. The bill was signed into law by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on May 28 and went into effect on July 1. Further details about implementation are expected by the end of this year.