The Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act was expedited through the Senate using what is called the “hot line” process, meaning each senator had 24 hours to object and if there were no objections then it automatically passed. “United Spinal activated many advocacy groups over the course of a year and this week it got down to the wire, but finally yesterday late afternoon Sen. Portman and others introduced the act. It went so quickly. We were pushing, making sure everyone’s questions were answered so they wouldn’t object and it passed in the Senate today,” says Bennewith. “We had already set it up so Speaker Ryan and others on the House side were ready to just accept it once it passed the Senate, and then it passed in the House in a matter of minutes.”
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Medicare coverage for wheelchair components such as seat and back cushions is safe for another year thanks to a lightning-quick act that was introduced into Congress yesterday, Dec. 17, and passed today, Dec. 18. “The average time for a bill to pass is seven years,” says Alexandra Bennewith, vice president government relations for United Spinal Association. “This shows that advocacy does work. It’s hard, it’s not easy, you have to be persistent and committed like crazy, but it works.”