About China


Blog For Free!

Archives
Home
2006 October
2006 March
2006 January
2005 December
2005 November

My Links
Microwave circuit board
High frequency circuit board
Aluminum circuit board

tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images


Sponsored
Blog
Medicare trims power wheelchair coverage
10.25.06 (1:53 am)   [edit]
Medicare trims power wheelchair coverage WASHINGTON -- Patricia Meier, a 63-year-old quadriplegic and Medicare recipient, needs to replace the wheelchair she has used for five years. Normally, Meier could simply use her Medicare benefits to replace the power wheelchair, which adjusts her position to prevent sores, with another one from WestMed Rehab Inc., a medical supplier near her home in Box Elder, S.D. But WestMed, along with several other suppliers across the country, says it will no longer provide power wheelchairs to most Medicare recipients after Nov. 15, when cuts in Medicare reimbursements go into effect. WestMed planned an announcement on Thursday. The Medicare changes are intended to eliminate widespread fraud identified by the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the program. WestMed, based in Rapid City, S.D., is the only major wheelchair supplier within 300 miles of Meier's home. Concerned about the prospect of wheelchair supplies ending in their state, South Dakota's congressional delegation pressed federal health officials for more information. About $20,000: If Meier were to replace her chair without Medicare, it could cost her between $17,000 and $20,000. With Medicare, she would pay only 20 percent of that. "When I was able-bodied I bought cars cheaper than that," said Meier, who was injured in a car accident 20 years ago. "I don't know how I would be able to afford it." With other suppliers saying they, too, won't be able to provide mobility equipment to many of their customers, those living with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and other conditions could be without the wheelchairs they need to get around. Many wheelchair users "are going to have to pay out of pocket," said Tim Pederson, CEO of WestMed Rehab. A 2004 study conducted by the HHS inspector general showed that Medicare reimbursements for certain power wheelchairs were far higher than the prices paid by consumers and suppliers. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which administers both health care programs, expenditures for power wheelchairs increased by 2,705 percent between 1995 and 2003 -- from $43 million to $1.2 billion in just over just eight years. Agency spokesman Jeff Nelligan said the increase is a "direct result of the excessive prices Medicare pays for these products." Most suppliers have supported overhauling the system, as many companies have abused it. But they say the government has gone too far. The changes "do eliminate the fraud and abuse, but it also eliminates the benefit," said Pederson of WestMed Rehab. "They are painting the entire industry in that broad brush, and they look at all of us as crooks." Cara Bachenheimer, vice president of government relations for Invacare, the country's leading wheelchair manufacturer, said suppliers across the country have informed the company that they will be purchasing less equipment because of the reduced Medicare reimbursements. Stop selling: Carol Gilligan, owner of Health Aid of Ohio Inc., said she will have to stop selling power wheelchairs altogether. "There's just no way you can make a living," she said of the new reimbursements. "We have to change our business model." Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said Medicare is not asking what is in the best interest of the patient. "People are either going to have to figure out a way to finance them outside of Medicare, pay it out of pocket or just use their current chair until it breaks down," he said. Several members of Congress have written to the agency in the weeks since the announcement. Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, both Republicans, wrote the Health and Human Services Department last week asking for a delay in implementation of the new fees. The Pennsylvania senators expressed concern about the payment formula used to calculate the reimbursements, noting that the formula does not always take current market prices into account. louis vuitton china exports replica watch power cord replica rolex extension cord power cord Argentina IRAM power cord
 
M. David Stone - PC Magazine
10.25.06 (1:51 am)   [edit]
M. David Stone - PC Magazine Oct. 19 Color lasers may be the wave of the future, but monochrome lasers aren't going to disappear anytime soon, especially not with models such as the Lexmark E250dn ($249 direct) available. The E250dn is not only the right size and price for a small office, or even a home office with heavy printing needs; it also offers all the features a typical small office could hope for, including a network connector, a built-in duplexer to make it easy to print on both sides of the page, and an eye-catching 30-pages-per-minute (ppm) engine rating. The E250dn is part of a new line of monochrome lasers that most notably includes the E250d ($199 direct), which Lexmark says is identical to the E250dn but without the network connector. The other three models in the line—the E350d ($349), E352dn ($449), and E450dn ($599)—are similar in most ways but are built around an even faster engine, rated at 35 ppm. Lexmark likes to emphasize the "green" in these printers, with features that include duplexing on every model (to help save paper) and an instant warm-up fuser that both saves power and speeds up the time it takes to print the first page from a cold start. Although the E250dn is far from the smallest monochrome laser printer I've seen—that honor still belongs to the much less-expensive and slower HP LaserJet 1018—it's small and light enough, at 10.2 by 15.6 by 14.1 inches (HWD) and 25 pounds, so you shouldn't have any trouble making room for it. Setup is standard for the breed, consisting of little more than removing the packing materials, loading paper, plugging in the cable and power cord, and running the automated installation routine. Speed is one of the best arguments for buying the E250dn. The printer's total time on our business applications suite (timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software, www.qualitylogic.com) was just 6 minutes 19 seconds—essentially tied with the Brother HL-5250dn for by far the fastest printer for the price. It's significantly faster than the 7:11 total of the next fastest, the Dell Laser Printer 1710n. The E250dn's output quality is pretty much what I'd expect to see from a monochrome laser, although the text is a touch less than ideal. The best monochrome lasers print more than half our test fonts well enough to qualify as easily readable at 4 points, with none needing more than 12 points. With the E250dn, more than half of our test fonts were easily readable at 5 points, some were easily readable at 4 points, and one highly stylized font with thick strokes needed more than 12 points. Unless you have a strong need for small fonts, however, the E250dn can handle any text you need to print. Graphics quality was absolutely par for the course. I'd use it for any internal business purpose without a second thought, but I wouldn't hand its output to important clients or customers if I were trying to impress them with my professionalism. The biggest problem was a tendency for thin lines to disappear. I also saw some banding and some uneven pile height—with toner piled high in some spots but not others, so light reflected better from those spots and showed a pattern in what should be an even fill. For printing photos, the E250dn isn't quite a match for most monochrome lasers, but that's not bad enough to be a problem. The photos are certainly good enough for things such as client newsletters and printing Web pages, which are the most common reasons for printing photos on a monochrome laser. The E250dn's paper handling complements its high speed. The standard paper tray holds a reasonably ample 250 sheets, with a manual feed slot also available, and, of course, the internal duplexer standard. For more heavy-duty needs, a 550-sheet tray ($199 direct) boosts the capacity to 800 sheets. Lexmark says that a 250-sheet ($99) tray will be available in the first quarter of 2007 as well. All told, the total package offers a well-thought-out balance of speed, quality, and paper handling that makes the Lexmark E250dn easy to recommend. See how the Lexmark E250dn measures up to similar machines in our laser printer comparison chart. China CCC power cord European extension cord European power cord UK SAA cable reel UK SAA power cord UL CSA extension cord UL CSA power cord UL CSA power strip