The first Medicaid power chair vendor

As we entered 2015 I started having trouble with my power chair.

I knew it was over six years old and I knew it would not last forever. I thought the batteries were probably going. They would cost $400 at least.

My nursing home said I could get a new power chair in 2015.

A vendor showed up in August of that year. Tom (not his real name) told me he could get me anything I wanted. I told him I wanted the same brand of chair. Then he told me he could not do that. He said the company who manufactured my previous power chair were sanctioned by the federal government and were not selling chairs at that time.

I had concerns because I had a lockdown bracket on my old power chair. I have a minivan with a fold down ramp in the rear. That lockdown device latched into a bracket on the floor of my van. If I did not get the same brand in the new power chair, I could not use the existing bracket.. New brackets cost $750. That was a dilemma.

I brought it up to Tom and he said that was something they did not do. I did some emailing online and asked some questions about the lockdown bracket.

Tom wanted to move on and order the new power chair. But I was not comfortable because I did not know exactly how he would set it up. Then, he visited and said he would provide the new bracket for my van's lockdown device and install it. That sounded too good to be true and I figured it probably was.

I kept asking Tom how he was going to adapt the armrests. Power chairs are made differently now and the armrests flip up and move. I was used to the older style kind that were difficult to move. Tom did not explain it to me.

Then Tom said he thought I needed to have a loaner chair. I wondered how they could loan an existing chair to me when I need everything modified so that I can use it with my left hand. He assured me he could do it.

Because he did not explain how the chair would be set up, I was leery. But I eventually told him I would try a loaner chair.

He said he would be in within a couple of weeks.

One day I was working at my computer. All of a sudden Tom knocked on my door. It was the afternoon and later than I would have liked. He brought the chair in. It was high off the floor – probably 23 inches. I am short 5'3". There was no way I could've gotten into that power chair. It also had the joystick on the right. Mine has to be on the left. When I looked at the seat, it was stained. It wasn't horrible or anything. But it did make me cringe a bit.

I asked Tom why he would bring a chair set up with the joystick on the right when he knew I needed it on the left. He just looked at me. I also told him the chair was too high for me to be able to get into it standing. Then, he continued to just look at me.

I told him there was no way I could use the chair the way it was set up.

He told me if I asked him to leave with it, it would sever our relationship. I thought that was a strange thing for a salesman and durable medical equipment provider to say.

With that, Tom left my room.

Subsequently, I emailed him and asked if something could be worked out. But he did not respond.

I found out from the regional long term care ombudsman that Tom felt I was difficult and no longer wanted to deal with me.

I was astounded. I did not think a medical equipment vendor could do this. But this one did.

Then I wondered what vendor could supply another power chair.