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NAVY WIFE WHO WON WHEELCHAIR CASE AGAINST
TRICARE WISHES FOR MORE -- "I was really hoping
for a precedent, for something that would make
getting the chair easier for other people."
For background on this story (with backlinks),
click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJAN08/nf011608-2.htm
Story here...
http://hamptonroads.com/200
8/04/navy-wife-won-chair-case-yet-wishes-more
Story below:
-------------------------
Navy wife won chair case yet wishes for more
PORTSMOUTH -- Deanna VanHook loves her high-tech wheelchair, and she's
thrilled Tricare, the military's insurance program, finally agreed to pay
for it.
But she's disappointed that the two-year legal battle she and her Navy
husband fought won't set a precedent for other paralyzed patients - and
won't benefit military members injured in war.
In a decision reached March 8, the Department of Defense issued a final
ruling in the case: that Tricare's Extended Care Health Option program,
ECHO, would pay for VanHook's iBot 4000 Mobility System. The check was
dated Tuesday.
The Defense Department rejected a judge's
recommendation to cover the device under the broader Tricare health care
program, which would have set a precedent for military members.
The ECHO program applies only to family members, meaning active-duty
military patients paralyzed in Iraq or Afghanistan, for instance, wouldn't
qualify for the iBot under Tricare.
"For a chair that is this life-changing," VanHook said Tuesday, "it
doesn't seem like the right decision" to deny it to troops injured in
combat.
"I am thrilled that I got my money back. That's nice," VanHook said. "But
that really wasn't what I was going for. I was really hoping for a
precedent, for something that would make getting the chair easier for
other people."
For more than 20 years after a devastating car accident, VanHook relied on
a standard wheelchair to get around. But her shoulder muscles eventually
deteriorated from overuse.
To keep up with two children, one of whom is disabled, VanHook needed more
help.
VanHook and her husband, Tom VanHook, took out a home-equity loan on their
Portsmouth home last March to buy the $24,000 iBot. The device uses a
gyroscope and computers to navigate stairs and power over unpaved, uneven
surfaces.
The iBot seemed a necessity, especially because Tom
VanHook, an ER doctor at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, might be called
to serve overseas. Doctors agreed that it was, and the pair submitted the
receipts to Tricare for reimbursement.
Even as Tricare fought to deny the claim, VanHook found her life
revolutionized by the iBot. She can change light bulbs on the ceiling -
the chair has a mode that lifts her off the ground - reach top shelves,
and drive over playgrounds and trails.
"I'm thankful, but I wanted so much more," VanHook said from Little Rock,
Ark., where she and children are living while her husband serves in
Afghanistan. Tom VanHook deployed with a Marine unit last month.
Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629,
kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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