Navigating Insurance Appeals & Approvals with Help Hope Live
It was such a tremendous honor to host a webinar with a dear friend Karen Roy, Numotion Ambasador, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, fierce advocate, and Ms. Wheelchair America 2019.
With Help Hope Live organizing this amazing event, we both spoke about navigating the health insurance appeals and approvals process from very different perspectives. From the patient perspective and from the provider perspective. So many tips and tricks and personal experiences we have both encountered over our decades of advocacy experience.
You don’t want to miss this talk!
ABC 11 NEWS REPORT OUT!
So thankful to Diane Wilson, investigative reporter with ABC11 WTVD-TV and an incredible human being coming over to shoot a video segment for the news on the damage incurred with my power wheelchair when coming back from my trip to Costa Rica with Delta airlines
A piece of beautiful advocacy and a call for change. will be heading to Washington DC with hundreds of other wheelchair Advocates with United Spinal Association on June 18th for Roll on Capitol Hill to push for amendments to the Air Carrier Access Act.
It is an incredible passion of mine to consistently push for change for inclusion in our society. There countless wheelchair users I know who are afraid to fly due to consistent airline damage. this has to change!
It will change with the help of thousands of us continuing to put pressure on amending laws.
Planning an International Adventure as a Complete C6, Quadriplegic
Planning a trip can be exhausting for anyone, but for a wheelchair user there are many intricate elements to consider to ensure you have an enjoyable trip. One of the top issues to consider is the safety of your wheelchair with major commercial airlines.
Additionally, one also needs to consider medical supplies, durable medical equipment, different types of backup wheelchair cushions, arranging travel for caregivers, and much more.
With proper planning, research, and time, any wheelchair user should be rest assured you can have a magical trip. You just need to stay a few steps ahead of the game by pre-planning your travels.
Read the rest of the article on Wheel the World
(Thank you Wheel the World for such an incredible travel experience in allowing me to write such an important article help others in wheelchairs plan a safe and dream destination trip!)
When your EXPECTATIONS don’t always ALIGN with your LIFE PLAN
If you are a poker player and you are down on your luck, it’s best to cash out. Unfortunately, life is not always so black-and-white. Life is messy, complicated, emotional, and defies reasonable logic at times in your own mind. When I think about what props one up in life I think of a pyramid.
You have your physical health, mental health, and financial health. They can all get muddled together, but when two of the pillars start to crumble life can get very tricky trying to balance on a one-sided pyramid – essentially trying to balance on a pogo stick.
I don’t know one person on this planet who has not suffered from depression or anxiety (even if it’s seasonal) at some point in their life. I try to be as authentic as possible and showcase what I go through in the hopes that others may be able to relate, gain clarity in their own situations, or just know that they are not alone. Leaving my physical disability aside with all the accompanying secondary medical complications for moment …
read more…Wheelchair Airline Travel as a C6 Quadriplegic
Flying on a Commercial Airline as a C6 quadriplegic paralyzed from the chest down —
I wish I could sugarcoat this for this for wheelchair users out there who have significant mobility impairments, but I struggle to. Traveling in a wheelchair is no joke.
It takes a lot of preparation, a dark sense of humor, the ability to go with the flow, and most importantly, being able to vocalize exactly how you want to be handled.
Having a team is great and so important because most commercial airline attendants and ground staff do not know how to work with so many of us with different disabilities. I do believe it is on us use our words to tell people how we need to be handled.
Now, I’m not specifically talking about our wheelchairs, which is a completely different legislative matter. Am talking about us. Our human bodies. No two disabilities are like, but I wanted to share with you my experience transferring and moving from wheelchair to plane chair as a C6 quadriplegic paralyzed from the chest down from a spinal cord injury in 2010.
Honestly, it is undignified and it can be very embarrassing for many. I have a very dark sense of humor, so I go with the flow, but I appreciate this is no joke to thousands of us. You have dozens of people staring at you as you go down these tiny aisles. If you are overweight you are in a lot of trouble being able to squeeze down the aisles or fit into the airline chair. We need airline reform than many of us are working on this.
In the meantime, thought I would give you a sneak the behind the scenes of my recent flight to Costa Rica in April 2023.
Accessible SCUBA Diving
Check out behind-the-scenes footage of accessible SCUBA diving on my incredible trip to Costa Rica with Wheel the World and Il Viaggio accessible travel company. I I had only ever seen photos of folks in wheelchairs SCUBA diving, but not what was really involved with getting a quadriplegic SCUBA diving under the sea.
Well, I created a video for you and those interested in re-creating this trip or interested accessible SCUBA diving wherever that may be in the world.
Advocating through Ablest Insurance Policy Webinar – Hosted by the World Disability Advocacy Group
I have the distinct pleasure to be part of this incredible global group of disability advocates focusing on disability inclusion issues. We hosted the most amazing, inclusive, and engaging webinar on different perspectives on how health insurance affects individuals with disabilities around the planet.
Check out the YouTube Video:
History in the Making- CMS Expands Coverage of Power Seat Elevation Systems
In 2020, I was eligible for a new power wheelchair. I worked tirelessly to make the medical necessity argument for a power seat elevator. My private insurance carrier denied me. I spent months appealing only to receive the dreaded letter titled “Final Adverse Determination of Benefits.”
My insurance provider essentially told me that I had no more avenues for appeals, and I would have to pay nearly $1,500 out-of-pocket for a seat elevator, which has now greatly improved my independence and quality of life.
I am now able to raise myself up to cook food on the stove safely, brush my teeth at the sink, and safely transfer to my bed, among numerous other benefits. Most importantly, the ability to perform these daily functions independently reduces my risk of secondary complications, such as pressure sores and broken bones due to falls from transferring to and from uneven services.
Life was going to be tremendously more complicated without this addition. I have given myself the middle name, “Pleasantly Persistent.”
After several weeks I received a written letter from my insurance carrier explaining that they now “magically” found that my seat elevator was medically necessary for my diagnoses. Really? They even put a disturbing and common line in the letter stating, “This is not a precedent.” This enraged me!
Why did I have to fight so hard to survive while trying to thrive in life and make a difference in my advocacy work? I developed a laser focus on this issue and started reaching out to people, legislators, and organizations nationwide.
I soon realized this was a national issue and needed attention immediately.
Read the Rest on Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation:
Https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en/cms-expands-coverage-of-power-seat-elevation-systems
When a Major Commercial Airline Damages your $30,000 Power Wheelchair – What Next?
If you are a power wheelchair user then you are probably cringing at the title of this article as there is a 50% chance if you fly this has happened to you. If you are not a wheelchair user, think about this:
How would you feel if the airline decided to take a baseball bat, however unintentionally, to break your legs after you get off a flight? Well, this metaphor is akin to what many of us wheelchair users feel like when we see our power wheelchairs (our legs) broken into pieces when departing off the plane down to the luggage carousel to pick up our metaphorical legs.
To say you would be irritated is a gross understatement.
Sadly, this happens way too often in the airline industry for a variety of reasons. In my humble opinion, I think it’s cheaper for major commercial airlines to pay for a few power wheelchairs throughout the year than train their staff properly, or rather the third-party contractors who they work with to deal with loading and unloading our wheelchairs. Let’s not even get into TSA and what they do with our chairs.
read more…