Has anyone ever gotten medical ins. to buy them a bike?
 

I just ran across this article:
http://www.charter.net/news/read.php...org%3E&ps=1019

I was just curious if anyone has ever gotten a doctor to actually write a prescription for exercise and been able to get insurance to cover the initial equipment, whether a bike, or running shoes, or even a gym membership?

No, I'm not trying to do it, just curious.

The only time that I saw insurance pay for something like that was in a few worker's compensation cases in the chemical plant I had worked in. Usually only long enough to restore mobility to get the person back to work. Once able to return to work the paid gym time ended.

The other week I had the staff in the LBS laughing. Last June my wife and I did our age rides. That being 70 miles in one day. When we returned home and got the bikes and gear away I checked the mail box. Oh Boy! A brochure for an electric scooter chair which might be paid by Medicare and my secondary insurer. Under Medicare we have an entitlement to a certain degree of mobility. Could I convince a doctor that my aluminum frame hybrid is too heavy to give me the proper degree of mobility so a Medicare paid for Trek Madone would help give me greater mobility. I was told that if I could pull something like that off I would be a hero.

While they're at it, maybe they can get the medical insurance company to buy them healthy organic foods. That will certainly help keep down healthcare costs :rolleyes:

That's what I'm talking about! Just happens to be a scooter with a carbon fiber frame and Dura ace drivetrain. It's all in the presentation.

Yes. Kind of, anyway. My wife has fibromyalgia. The doctor prescribed exercise. We bought a NordicTrack elliptical and submitted the bill with the prescription to my medical spending account, and they paid it.

Not a bike, but when I needed rehab, they did pay for gym membership. I don't have any sympathy at all for health insurers, but ripping them off for a bicycle seems cheesy.

Geez, you guys know how to present a case. All I got was a wheelchair, and that was a rental. Happy to say I only needed it for a couple of weeks. Oh, there was a deductable, too.

Well yeah, it is. But I'm just talking theory here.

Un huh.

Expect, if anything, the budget would be for a BSO. :innocent:

more likely Script would read : go for a 20 minute walk at least 4x a week.

Prior to knee surgery last July I asked my sports med doc to write a prescription for a trainer (my PT was to ride the bike inside for 3+ weeks). He said it wasn't a problem and that he does it all the time. I wanted the prescription for taxes, not insurance. My tax guy said it is a legitimate deduction. :thumb: