Ive here. The title of this story belies the real problem: A shortage of walkers, crutches and other “assistive” devices due to a shortage of aluminum. We warn that this will come by the end of 2021. IM Doc’s hospital is already struggling to get aluminium crutches and his contacts have warned it will get worse. This was the way before anyone thought war was imminent with Russia, the main aluminium supplier.

Via Kate Ruder.Originally Posted in Kaiser Health News

Michele Lujan needs a wheelchair for her 52-year-old husband who is hospitalized with covid-19. But she lost her job and money was tight. Insurance wouldn’t pay, and she didn’t see the use of buying things to meet temporary needs. So she turned to a loan cabinet not far from her home in the Denver suburb of Highland Ranch.

exist South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Room, crutches hang on the wall, knee scooters line the floor, shower seats and toilet risers overflow from shelves. She found a wheelchair that she could borrow for free.

“I wasn’t aware of all the other medical supplies they had,” Lujan said.

Medical equipment reuse programs like this one collect, clean and lend equipment—often free to borrowers.They range in size from small outposts of community churches to large statewide projects such as Rehabilitation Equipment and Endowment Foundationor free, delivered nearly 5,000 devices last year to thousands of low-income adults and seniors in Virginia.

Such programs save money for low-income and uninsured patients and, by refurbishing used medical equipment, keep it out of landfills. During the pandemic, these programs also help mitigate the impact of supply chain-related shortages and help meet increased demand as delayed elective surgeries resume.

“Once hospitals start doing elective surgery again, there’s a huge increase in demand,” said Donna Ralston, who founded South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Closet six years ago in a 10-foot-by-10-foot shed in her church. Donna Ralston) said.

Today, the volunteer-run organization opens warehouse doors by making appointments for anyone in need and recovering from surgery, illness or injury. “Typically, we loan devices to patients who otherwise have to wait two months to get them from their insurance provider,” said Pat Benhmida, the organization’s president. “We often fill these cracks.”

In addition to insurance delays, hospitals across the U.S. are reporting not enough walkers, crutches, canes and wheelchairs.Limited supply due to shortage of raw materials such as aluminium Alok BavejaProfessor of Supply Chain Management at Rutgers School of Business in New Jersey.

“Availability, not just cost, has implications for the durable medical equipment industry,” Baveja said.

Colin Milligan, a spokesman for the American Hospital Association, said the chaos caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could make the crisis worse.

Aluminium prices have more than doubled in the past two years, including a rise of more than 20% in the past six months. London Metal ExchangeA bill passed by Congress on April 7 to suspend normal trade relations with Russia would allow President Joe Biden to raise tariffs on the country’s aluminum and other imports, further driving up aluminum prices.

The silver lining of the pandemic, Baveja said, is the increased acceptance and use of reusable medical devices.

Last September and January, hospitals in southwest Virginia delayed patient discharges due to a lack of walkers and bedside toilets, and they experienced a backlog of emergency room patients due to a shortage of beds, said Robin Ramsay, executive director of FREE. Say, a nonprofit.

For weeks, FREE was the only supplier with walkers and bedside commodes on hand, Ramsey said. “During the shortage, we found that even people with insurance, who could have bought a walker, couldn’t find it,” Ramsay said.

As part of the Commonwealth, each state receives funding to provide technology to assist people with disabilities Assistive Technology Act 1998. This can include reusable technology and equipment. Reuse programs rely on cash and equipment donations, often with a group of volunteers to inspect, sanitize and repair wheels, brakes, casters, batteries and other components.

Last year, more than 100 volunteers and 12 staff members received 10,000 donated equipment for free, and 6,500 were refurbished to return to service, Ramsay said.

Patients and their families often pay for durable medical equipment, especially with high-deductible health insurance plans, said Elliot Sloyer, founder of the nonprofit Wheel It Forward in Stamford, Connecticut. “Medicare, insurance doesn’t cover a lot of things. They make things difficult,” he said.

The medical device reuse program provides significant practical value to the community, Ramsay said. But, she said, some people don’t know these programs exist until they need them.

zone directory, e.g. Great Lakes Loan Closet List reuse programs in Michigan, Wisconsin, Northern Indiana, and Northern Illinois. Wheel It Forward plans to launch the first nationwide catalog of approximately 700 medical device reuse projects.

For now, reuse programs such as FREE will continue to store and repair donated medical equipment.

“Sometimes, especially with everything that’s happened over the past two years, devices come in and out on the same day,” Ramsay said. “The demand is so great.”