Places like the mall and even church are much easier to navigate when I use my wheelchair. To get through the mall with my cane would be a very time consuming endeavor. I can get into my church without climbing stairs, but the sidewalk that leads to the door is on an incline, and impossible for me to manage without my wheelchair.
Eight months ago I saw a physical therapist for an insurance-required Mobility Test. This provided the insurance company with information about my ability to walk and how much weight I can lift, or should I say my inability to walk or lift much.
My insurance company, Asuris, sent a letter denying me a lightweight
wheelchair, stating that since I have the ability to walk inside my home
with the use of a cane, a wheelchair outside my home "is not medically necessary."
I suppose the insurance company expects people in my condition to resign themselves to being homebound. To give up any hope of working outside the home. My 40-pound wheelchair is too heavy for me to pick up and put back in my car. Do they think I can always be accompanied by a strong chaperone? My husband, who has rheumatoid arthritis, has difficulty lifting my wheelchair and placing it in our Suburban. We pay a staggering amount for our insurance each month, but it is always a losing battle to get them to cover anything!
Video #1: Pulling the wheelchair out of the suburban
Video #2: Trying to lift my wheelchair into the suburban
