TY - BOOK AU - Groah, Suzanne L AU - Lichy, Alison AU - Ljungberg, Inger H TI - Disparities in wheelchair procurement by payer among people with spinal cord injury SN - 1934-1482 KW - *Electrical Equipment and Supplies/ec [Economics] KW - *Electrical Equipment and Supplies/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - *Spinal Cord Injuries/ep [Epidemiology] KW - *Wheelchairs/ec [Economics] KW - *Wheelchairs/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Adolescent KW - Adult KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Continental Population Groups/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Cross-Sectional Studies KW - Female KW - Financing, Personal/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Humans KW - Insurance, Health/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Male KW - Medicaid/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Medicare/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Middle Aged KW - Paraplegia/ep [Epidemiology] KW - Quadriplegia/ep [Epidemiology] KW - United States/ep [Epidemiology] KW - Veterans Disability Claims/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Workers' Compensation/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data] KW - Young Adult KW - MedStar National Rehabilitation Network KW - MedStar Washington Hospital Center KW - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation KW - Journal Article KW - Multicenter Study N2 - CONCLUSIONS: The only payer group for which all beneficiaries received wheelchairs that met standard of care were power wheelchairs provided by WC/VA. Fewer than 90% of people whose manual wheelchair was paid for by Medicare and self pay, and whose power wheelchair was paid for by Medicaid/DVR, Medicare, and self pay did not meet standard of care. Although these findings need to be correlated with long-term risks, such as overuse injuries, breakdowns, and participation, this study demonstrates that disparities in wheelchair procurement by insurance provider persist.Copyright � 2014 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved; DESIGN: A multicenter cross-sectional study; METHODS: Demographic, wheelchair, and payer data were collected by medical record review and face-to-face interview; OBJECTIVE: To identify insurance provider-related disparities in the receipt of lightweight, customizable manual wheelchairs or power wheelchairs with programmable controls among community-dwelling people with spinal cord injury (SCI); PARTICIPANTS: A total of 359 individuals at least 16 years of age or older and 1 year after SCI who use a manual or power wheelchair as their primary means of mobility. The subjects were stratified by payer, and payers were grouped according to reimbursement characteristics as follows: Medicaid/Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), private/prepaid, Medicare, Worker's Compensation (WC)/Veterans Affairs (VA), and self pay; RESULTS: There were 125 participants in the Medicaid/DVR group, 120 in the private/prepaid group, 55 in the Medicare group, 30 in the WC/VA group, and 29 in the self-pay group. For manual wheelchair users, the likelihood of having a lightweight, customizable wheelchair was 97.5% for private/prepaid, 96.3% for Medicaid/DVR, 94.1% for WC/VA, 87.5% for Medicare, and 82.6% for self pay. For power wheelchair users, those with WC/VA (100%) were most likely to receive a customizable power wheelchair with programmable controls, followed by private/prepaid (95.1%), Medicaid/DVR (86.0 %), Medicare (83.9%), and self pay (50.0%); SETTING: Six Spinal Cord Injury Model System centers UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmrj.2013.11.004 ER -