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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5540 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5540

  To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify payment 
   rules for manual wheelchairs under part B of the Medicare program.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 16, 2024

Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Ms. Duckworth) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify payment 
   rules for manual wheelchairs under part B of the Medicare program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Choices for Increased Mobility Act 
of 2024''.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL RULES RELATED TO TREATMENT OF CERTAIN MANUAL 
              WHEELCHAIRS UNDER THE MEDICARE PROGRAM.

    Section 1834(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(23) Special rules related to treatment of certain manual 
        wheelchairs.--
                    ``(A) Requirement to establish separate hcpcs codes 
                for certain manual wheelchairs.--With respect to 
                ultralightweight manual wheelchairs payable under this 
                subsection furnished on or after January 1, 2026, the 
                Secretary shall establish two or more HCPCS codes, as 
                determined appropriate by the Secretary, for the base 
                of such a wheelchair depending on the construction 
                material used in such base (with 1 or more such codes 
                for such a base with titanium or carbon fiber 
                construction material and 1 or more such codes for such 
                a base without such materials).
                    ``(B) Payment and beneficiary protections.--
                            ``(i) Payment.--On or after January 1, 
                        2026, in the case where an individual purchases 
                        or rents from a supplier an ultralightweight 
                        manual wheelchair that has titanium or carbon 
                        fiber construction material used in the base of 
                        such wheelchair, payment to the supplier shall 
                        be made in the frequency and amount as would 
                        otherwise be made under this subsection (as 
                        described in paragraph (1)(A)) for such 
                        wheelchair.
                            ``(ii) Beneficiary charges.--The supplier 
                        may charge the individual the difference 
                        between the payment amount described in clause 
                        (i) for such wheelchair and the supplier's 
                        actual charge for such wheelchair.
                            ``(iii) Beneficiary protections.--In order 
                        to inform an individual of their potential 
                        financial liability under clause (ii), the 
                        Secretary may require a supplier to issue a 
                        notice to the individual (in a form and manner 
                        determined by the Secretary) prior to the 
                        purchase or rent of such ultralightweight 
                        manual wheelchair by such individual.''.
                                 <all>
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