swalker
Very helpful member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
- Messages
- 1,580
- Reason
- DX MND
- Diagnosis
- 07/2014
- Country
- US
- State
- CO
- City
- Vail
As many of you know, I have 4 wheelchairs, one of which has been funded by private insurance. The other three we bought used for particular purposes.
The wheelchair funded by insurance is a Permobil C500s VS, which was ordered 4 years ago this month and arrived in January of 2015. It has over 2,400 miles on it. I am on the 5th set of motors. The latest set of motors were billed to insurance at over $10,000:-o.
In the last 13 months, that wheelchair has been in the shop (and not available to me) for over 5 months. It has been operating in degraded mode for 4 of the remaining 8 months. So, I have had full use of the wheelchair for about 4 out of the last 13 months.
Yesterday, we picked up the wheelchair from its latest round of repairs. The total bill to insurance will be over $12,000. Last December, Insurance was billed over $11,000 for repairs. There is still work remaining to be done, but the necessary parts are special order and probably will not be here until after Thanksgiving.
I love the wheelchair, but I think I have simply worn it out. In my opinion, it is no longer sufficiently reliable to be my primary wheelchair (though, I think it could work OK as an occasional backup).
I checked with my insurance company and they verbally told me I am eligible for a new wheelchair so long as my doctor is willing to write a prescription for it. That should be no problem.
So, I have scheduled an appointment with the wheelchair folks to start picking out my next wheelchair. I would love to get folks' opinions on what they think the best wheelchair would be for me. I certainly have ideas, but would like to hear from others before I commit to a particular brand/model.
For me, the essentials are:
1. Power legrest, tilt, recline, and elevate
2. Standing feature (to help me with transfers)
3. Long range (the longer the better, but at least 12 to 15 real-world miles on a charge).
4. Really great thoracic, thigh, and arm supports.
5. Convenient seatbelt
6. Lights (I use the wheelchair after dark enough to justify this)
7. Ability to accept mud and snow tires
8. Compatibility with EZ Lock
I appreciate your input!
Steve
The wheelchair funded by insurance is a Permobil C500s VS, which was ordered 4 years ago this month and arrived in January of 2015. It has over 2,400 miles on it. I am on the 5th set of motors. The latest set of motors were billed to insurance at over $10,000:-o.
In the last 13 months, that wheelchair has been in the shop (and not available to me) for over 5 months. It has been operating in degraded mode for 4 of the remaining 8 months. So, I have had full use of the wheelchair for about 4 out of the last 13 months.
Yesterday, we picked up the wheelchair from its latest round of repairs. The total bill to insurance will be over $12,000. Last December, Insurance was billed over $11,000 for repairs. There is still work remaining to be done, but the necessary parts are special order and probably will not be here until after Thanksgiving.
I love the wheelchair, but I think I have simply worn it out. In my opinion, it is no longer sufficiently reliable to be my primary wheelchair (though, I think it could work OK as an occasional backup).
I checked with my insurance company and they verbally told me I am eligible for a new wheelchair so long as my doctor is willing to write a prescription for it. That should be no problem.
So, I have scheduled an appointment with the wheelchair folks to start picking out my next wheelchair. I would love to get folks' opinions on what they think the best wheelchair would be for me. I certainly have ideas, but would like to hear from others before I commit to a particular brand/model.
For me, the essentials are:
1. Power legrest, tilt, recline, and elevate
2. Standing feature (to help me with transfers)
3. Long range (the longer the better, but at least 12 to 15 real-world miles on a charge).
4. Really great thoracic, thigh, and arm supports.
5. Convenient seatbelt
6. Lights (I use the wheelchair after dark enough to justify this)
7. Ability to accept mud and snow tires
8. Compatibility with EZ Lock
I appreciate your input!
Steve