Page 29 - HME Business, April 2018

“Standard power in terms of Medicare and private insurance is a rental opportunity today as opposed to a sale. And the problem is the numbers, it’s just simple math, the numbers just don’t add up.”
— Micha Swick, Pride Mobility Products
as a manufacturer, if providers are renting out one unit for three or four different circumstances as opposed to buying a unit for each one of those circumstances. But focusing on the retailer, that’s really the only way the provider can make the numbers work and come out pro tably, and take any income off the top.”
But multiple rentals on the same item have their limits, considering that many mobility diagnoses are lifelong conditions.
“There are units that come back into play because of someone passing away; because of a further deteriorating conditions that make the power chair no longer an option; things like that,” Swick says. “But it’s a small portion of the business.
“And here’s the problem, you can’t build your business around unknowns,” he continues. “How do I build a pro table business: ‘Maybe I’m going to get some units back, or maybe I’m not. Maybe I’m going
to get one back this month, or maybe I’m going to get three back this month.’ It’s not sustainable, it’s not predictable.”
What about Private Payer?
Naturally, if Medicare isn’t offering a decent model, the next option is to set a course for the private payer market. However, the private payer scenario offers more similarities than it does differences. The model is very much the same: the major carriers essentially match Medicare, both in terms of reimbursement rates and model.
“There are differences out there,” Swick says. “There are some unique situations out there but in general the private payers follow the Medicare model, they want to pay as little as possible.”
Moreover, in addition to the attenuated funding, there are just too many unknowns associated with renting to private payer bene ciaries.
“It’s made it so dif cult,” Swick says. “When I’m talking to our customers — to the providers that are out there —it’s just not setup for success. They put so many restrictions and so many limitations on the providers in terms of what the reimbursement’s going to be, and what they can do, and what the warranty has to be, but then they don’t allow them to market or really promote or make any increased margin anyway.
“So what do you do?” he continues. “The answer has to be to look for other products, other mechanisms to generate revenue. And that’s where we get into discussions about retail and expanding your product offerings.”
Blending in Retail
Naturally, many providers have pointed their businesses toward a retail model. That makes a lot of sense given that it is free from the limits and frus- trations of both the Medicare and the private payer reimbursement models.
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Access4U was established to provide people with a ordable access to their home. Access4U ramps are manufactured to the highest standards. With proper installation Access4U ramps are compliant with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and International Building Code (IBC) requirements. Access4U products are manufactured in the United States.
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PO Box 2535, Lower Burrell PA 15068 | Tel: 800-355-7025 www.access4uinc.com | customerservice@access4uinc.com
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