TRUE OR FALSE. Will wheelchairs soon be fully reimbursed, as Emmanuel Macron promises?

A new nomenclature presented by the government to stakeholders in the disability sector provides for an increase in the reimbursement base, but sets a sales limit price, which excludes a large number of wheelchairs from coverage.

Will all wheelchairs soon be fully reimbursed? This is what Emmanuel Macron promised during the National Disability Conference (CNH) in April 2023. “We will fully cover the reimbursement of wheelchairs for those who need them.”in turn affirmed the new Prime Minister in front of the deputies, during his general policy declaration to the National Assembly, Tuesday January 30.

However, stakeholders in the disability sector are sounding the alarm. “If we start with a reform such as it is currently envisaged, the sales limit price system will remove all of our members’ models from the nomenclature”assures Malika Boubekeur, national advisor for APF France handicap. A petition launched by environmentalist deputy for Dordogne Sébatien Peytavie to warn of the situation received more than 50,000 signatures on Monday.

“We don’t want these low-end chairs!”

For a little over 30 years, health insurance has reimbursed between 558 and 603 euros for a manual wheelchair and between 2,700 and 3,938 euros for an electric wheelchair. The government’s project, presented to stakeholders in the disability sector, provides for an increase in the reimbursement base, but sets a sales limit price: 2,600 euros for a manual wheelchair and 18,000 euros for an electric wheelchair. Armchairs whose price is below these sales limit prices would now be reimbursed at 100%, but those which exceed these prices would fall out of the LPPR nomenclature and would therefore no longer be reimbursed.

However, the vast majority of wheelchairs used on a daily basis by disabled people exceed the thresholds set by the government in the current version of the reform. It is necessary to count “between 4,000 and 8,000 euros” for a manual wheelchair, and several tens of thousands of euros for an electric wheelchair, “sometimes more than 50,000”assesses Nathalie Creveux-Bigaignon, spokesperson for the Union of Independent Home Health Providers (Upsadi).

“The government’s idea is that manufacturers meet these prices, but at these prices, these will never be chairs adapted to the specific needs of people”she adds. “We don’t want these low-end chairs!”agrees Malika Boubekeur, “with cheap chairs that are too heavy, you damage your body. With poor seating, bedsores are 100% guaranteed, etc.” “Disabled people spend fourteen to fifteen hours in their chair every day, it’s not a luxury”says the national advisor.

Put an end to fundraising

“My chair costs 8,000 euros. Health insurance reimbursed me 558 euros, and as I have very good mutual insurance, it reimbursed me 2,000 euros”testifies MP Sébastien Peytavie. “With the sales limit prices currently planned, my chair would fall out of the nomenclatures and would no longer be reimbursed at all”, he explains. IndeedIf chairs used by disabled people fall outside the LPPR nomenclature, mutual insurance companies will no longer cover them either.

However, if the current reform is criticized by those in the disability sector, a reform must be carried out, believes Malika Boubekeur. “We want to put an end to the obstacle course which consists of financing your wheelchair bit by bit, with aid and pots of money. We want full coverage for all wheelchairs by health insurance”claims Malika Boubekeur. “We want a reform that simply follows the announcements made by the president and the Prime Minister”summarizes the national advisor for APF France handicap.

“We cannot encourage people in wheelchairs to find work and at the same time not allow them to have access to an active wheelchair adapted”adds Sébatien Peytavie, who also raises the question of sports equipment. “A few months before the Paralympic Games in France, we cannot encourage people with disabilities to play sport and not provide the tools necessary to practice”, he believes. For the moment, manual sports chairs are reimbursed to the tune of 558 euros by health insurance, for prices ranging from 2,000 to more than 6,000 euros.