Page 17 - The Mobility Project, April 2020

Moreover, when CMS evaluates a wheelchair user’s needs, it only considers the home environment, ignoring the fact that disabled people must leave our homes to
go to work, to grocery shop, or at the very least, to keep doctors’ appointments. For those with jobs, the challenges only increase. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act requires workplaces to provide reasonable accommoda- tions, the cost of lowering office equipment and furniture to accommodate a person in a wheelchair is prohibitively expensive for most businesses — and unrealistic.
A Money-Saving Choice
However, the cost of adding adjustable seat height to a wheelchair is only around $3,000 — a fraction of the cost associated with other options. For example, PASH can reduce the need for attendant services, which are typically covered by CMS and other insurers.
Even if using PASH reduces the need for attendant services by five hours per week, that adds up to about $3,000 in just one year (based on an average hourly wage of $11.26). Additionally, the disabled individual enjoys
more independence. As much as we love our attendants, many people with disabilities would prefer to do more for ourselves and rely on attendants less, when possible.
When life-changing technology is developed, policy- makers have an urgent responsibility to make it widely available. Yet as of today, CMS has not even scheduled a time to receive public comment on the issue of PASH coverage. Why? Because the majority of CMS’s decision makers are able-bodied people who do not fully under- stand how a feature they classify as an “accessory” can be vital to a wheelchair user.
Perhaps for their next meeting, decision-makers at CMS should sit in their chairs and pass a pot of boiling water around — over their heads.
Editor’s note: Stephanie Woodward is a proud disabled person and director of advocacy for the Center for Disability Rights. Woodward earned her J.D. with a certificate in disability law and policy and her MSEd. in disability studies from Syracuse University College of Law. Follow her on Instagram at stepfunny426.
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The Power of PASH
You might know Power Adjustable Seat Height (PASH) as seat elevation or a seat elevator. It’s a positioning option on complex power wheelchairs that raises the user vertically, without changing the angle between the seat and its back, or the angle between the seat and the floor.
When PASH Can Be Helpful
Adjusting seat height can enable wheelchair users to reach shelves in kitchens, bathrooms and closets, which can make activities such as cooking, grooming and getting dressed easier to perform, and can reduce the shoulder or neck strain caused by too often reaching upward. PASH can assist some users with transfers, that is moving from the wheelchair to another surface, such as a bed or toilet.
PASH can also make wheelchair users more visible if they elevate when crossing a street, for instance. PASH systems allow wheelchair users to drive their chairs at lower, but still functional speeds while elevated. And of course, being able to see and interact with people at eye level can facilitate communication and inclusivity.
As with any assistive technology intervention, PASH is not appropriate for every wheelchair user. For more information on PASH and its applications, go to https://tinyurl.com/sunrisepash.