wheelchairs still not covered by health insurance

The President of the Republic promised that from this year, wheelchairs would be fully reimbursed. A young woman with cerebral palsy describes her difficulties in having her electric wheelchair replaced, which had broken down.

Wheelchairs will be fully reimbursed this year, Emmanuel Macron promised last April before the National Disability Conference. No details on the date, but the measure is impatiently awaited by the nearly 60,000 disabled people in France. Today, out of the million wheelchair users, half are fully reimbursed. The other half bears an out-of-pocket cost of 900 euros on average, but it can go well beyond for very technical electric wheelchairs.

This is the case of Marie Léa, 27, who lives in the Paris region. Last year, his electric chair broke down. However, the young woman, who has cerebral palsy, absolutely needs it. “It is impossible for me to move outside without my electric wheelchairshe explains. So by the time I got the new one, I was stuck at home for several months. It was really a very long period, especially since I like to see people, I like to go out.” Another problem: Marie Léa has a service dog, trained to bark if she falls. “During this period, I could no longer take it out”, she says. Without her chair, the young woman also missed her sessions with the physiotherapist to relieve her back.

An armchair for 33,000 euros, of which 10,000 are not refunded

Marie Léa wanted to buy an armchair but she was stopped by the exorbitant price: 33,000 euros for an all-terrain electric wheelchair, with 10,000 euros payable by her. You had to wait two years to get aid. “I told myself that the only solution was to create a pot, she says. I, who hate asking people, had to take this step. It’s quite degrading. Afterwards, I told myself that I was going to take out a loan from the banker. But he answered me: ‘No Madam, it’s not possible because the allowance is not seen as salary income.’ I couldn’t sleep at night anymore. I really felt like I was alone in the world. Fortunately my partner was there because otherwise I would probably have ended up badly…”

Marie Léa did not raise enough money with her kitty and ended up finding a second-hand chair. To avoid this obstacle course for others, the France Handicap association is demanding full reimbursement for wheelchairs without having to take out complementary health insurance. Because this public is often, like Marie Léa, forced unemployed and lives below the poverty line with only the disabled adult allowance.