Choices for Increased Mobility Act of 2026

Regulatory or Legal Changes Top 1

Medicare Payment Rules for Premium Manual Wheelchairs

Requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish separate HCPCS billing codes for ultralightweight manual wheelchairs based on whether the base uses titanium or carbon fiber construction material, sets the Medicare payment rate for such wheelchairs, and permits suppliers to charge beneficiaries the difference between the Medicare payment amount and the supplier's actual charge for premium-material wheelchairs.

• Population Scope Low The provision directly affects only Medicare Part B beneficiaries who use ultralightweight manual wheelchairs with titanium or carbon fiber frames, a very small subset of the U.S. population.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are appropriated or authorized; Medicare payment rates remain at the existing Part B level, with the bill's primary financial effect being cost-shifting to individual beneficiaries rather than any new federal expenditure.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium The bill creates a new statutory mandate requiring Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish distinct billing codes and authorizes a new supplier balance-billing right against Medicare beneficiaries — a substantive change to existing payment rules, though limited to a narrow product category.
• Degree of Discretion Granted Medium CMS is bound by a 'shall' mandate to create HCPCS codes but retains discretion over how many codes to establish and the form of beneficiary notices, which the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) 'may' require — a mixed mandatory/permissive structure.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low The provision imposes no new enforcement infrastructure or penalties; compliance obligations are limited to an optional supplier notice requirement whose form and manner the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines.
• Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal it.