Iowans will no longer need a doctor’s prescription in order to get Medicaid-funded repairs to their wheelchairs.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has removed the requirement following concerns about barriers and delays.
State Representative Josh Turek, a Democrat from Council Bluffs who uses a wheelchair, sponsored a bill last session to change the rule. He says that unnecessary requirement could delay repairs for weeks.
“On top of that, the state was the one that was paying for the transportation for the individuals to be able to get to the doctor’s appointment,” Turek says, “and on top of that, paying for an unnecessary doctor’s appointment.”
Turek says getting a prescription required an unneeded face-to-face doctor’s visit, which meant some people would go weeks before getting repairs on their chairs approved.
“In the meantime, individuals like myself that use a wheelchair were completely incapacitated with no freedom of mobility or movement,” he says, “essentially, just imprisoned in their own house through no fault of their own.”
HHS’s change to the requirement went into effect last month.
(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)