hover round or something of that nature

[shayla84]

Hello ya'll I know this sounds weird but its not for me, its for my mother she cant walk and there thinking of amputating both legs because of infection and blood flow so I am looking to get her a chair and send it to iowa, I know there are people here that work in all fields and know more about austin then I do and can maybe help me, looking for a chair that will hold up to like 350 pounds or so, if you have any info or have one please send me a pm and let me know the info. Thanks

[GneissGuy]

So sorry to hear about mom.

Be careful. There are lots of high pressure scumbag salesmen in that field. Most of the sales are to medicare patients. Medicare pays a fixed, and ridiculously high price for the chair. Because of this, there are lots of scammers set up to sell shoddy goods, because there's very little "feedback" or incentive to do it right.

Be very careful about "full service" salesmen. They're high pressure salesmen who know every trick about selling you bad stuff and getting medicare to pay. The well known brands may be the worst, since they've obviously got the money to pay for ads.

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about which particular brands are good, just that the whole business is sleazy. You'll occasionally see one for sale "outside" medicare, and the price is a fraction of the "medicare racket" price.

Does she have insurance/medicare/medicaid?

[shayla84]

she does through my dads insurance but until ssi will help her she has nothing and in iowa getting on ssi is almost impossible, its crazy but thank you for letting me know about the sales people, I will def have to remember that, but getting her a chair is not an option I have to get her one so she can leave the house

[richcran]

Some of the folks will bill medicare direct. I would think in your case (from what you've told) she would be eligible to get one right away. One of the largest ones that advertised heavily was recently shut down for medicare fraud.

[GneissGuy]

Search online as well. You can even order through places like Walmart.

Of course, having a local dealer who can fix problems for you and help your mom is good. Unfortunately, you may pay heavily for that service.

Medical billing is also a nightmare. You are often quoted one price and charged another. Then insurance gets blamed. Then they have people who are skilled at harassing weak, old people into getting them to pay the added price.

BTW, the online stuff isn't necessarily good, and the "full service" dealer stuff isn't necessarily bad. You have to do your research and take your chances.

For instance, look at the "list" vs. discounted price here: $8800 vs. $2695. That gives you an idea how much prices may vary depending on how you buy it.

Unfortunately, I don't have direct experience with what brands and models are good and bad, but there's a lot of info online. There are also lots of low class outfits who know how to post bogus info online on their shoddy products as well.

You may also be able to rent one for a short period of time until you figure things out, get her adjusted, etc.