Oregon’s 1.4 million Medicaid members will now have easier access to motorized wheelchairs and Durable Medical Equipment (DME) such as prosthetic limbs, infusion pumps, and blood sugar monitors, after collaborations between the state’s Health Authority (OHA) and its Ombud’s Program.

Problems encountered by more than 80 Medicaid and Oregon Health Plan (OHP) members were brought to the attention of the Ombud’s Program , whose annual report revealed the problems patients encounter when trying to obtain motorized wheelchairs and DMEs.

During Think Tank sessions, the OHA and Ombud’s Program heard from a young woman with intellectual and developmental disabilities whose seven-year-old motorized wheelchair was beyond repair.

Her local Medicaid network denied her request for a replacement, sa

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