Wheelchairs will be fully reimbursed “before the end of 2024’, assured the ministers in charge of Health and Disability. The promise from the Head of State has been the subject of negotiations for a year between the Social Security Department (DSS) and industrial manufacturers and distributors.
The initial envelope dedicated to the measure was estimated at around 300 million euros, according to the ministry. The measure will be covered by health insurance and complementary health insurance, with no additional cost to the user. Currently, the price of a manual wheelchair can reach up to 10,000 euros, that of an electric one up to 50,000euros. The project provided for a reimbursement base of 2,600 euros for a manual chair (compared to 600 euros today), and 18,000 Euros for an electric chair. The government refused to specify the amount of the budgetary boost so as not to whet the appetites of industrialists during the negotiations. A million people need a wheelchair, the majority of them elderly, a number set to increase with aging.