Stop Medicare Waste - Carolyn

"I am a double amputee and have used both a Hoveround and an Amigo scooter. The scooter allows me to transfer to the toilet, bath or bed much more easily than the wheelchair. 

In addition, I can transport the scooter in my minivan much more easily than I could the Hoveround. The Hoveround requires a ramp while the scooter only requires a sling.

Let me know how I may help with your effort to make the playing field more level as far as Medicare reimbursement for wheelchairs and scooters."

Carolyn

Lula, Georgia

January 18, 2012

Tips and Gadgets for Making Everyday Tasks Easier

Arthritis Today recently published a list of 25 gadgets for making daily tasks easier. Many of their tips and gadgets would be helpful for people who don't have arthritis as well! Here are a few of our favorite ideas:

• Use a hair dryer stand to style your hair freely with both hands. 
• Easily open medicine bottles with the Purrfect Medicine Opener, which can be used to open nearly any type of medication container.  
• Make coffee for one and eliminate clean up with a single-serving coffee-brewer, like a Keurig Brewing System.
• Use a specialty cutting board with stainless steel spikes to hold food in place so you can cut food without having to hold it. 
• If getting in and out of bed is difficult, use bed risers to lift your bed to a more manageable level.

Read the full article in the January-February 2012 issue of Arthritis Today, and tell us your favorite gadget for making the day easier in the comment box below!

Home Accessibility with Shelley Peterman Schwarz

Congratulations Shelley on your book!

Amigo owner Shelley Peterman Schwarz is continuing her mission to make your life easier with a new book! Home Accessibility: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier was recently released and is now available for purchase on Amazon.com.

The book is filled with affordable tips for making your home a more accessible, comfortable and safe place to live. Living with multiple sclerosis since 1979, Shelley is a wonderful resource for tips on making life easier and coping with illness and limited mobility.

To learn more about Shelley, visit her website, www.makinglifeeasier.com. You can also buy her book on amazon.com, or ask her a health question by sending an email to help@meetinglifeschallenges.com. 

Accessible Outdoor Shopping - Frankenmuth River Place Shops

Weather in Michigan has been unseasonably warm lately, and many Michiganders are spending more time outside than is usual for January.

If you live near the Michigan Great Lakes Bay Region, we recommend a visit to the Frankenmuth River Place Shops. With more than 40 shops and attractions, the River Place Shops have something for everyone, and you can get some fresh air and vitamin D while traveling from store to store. 

"All of the Frankenmuth River Place Shops are barrier-free," General Manager Michael Keller Zehnder says. "We were very careful to design it to not only be handicap accessible, but very user friendly for those in Amigos or other forms of transportation equipment."

Where is your favorite accessible shopping destination? Share with us in the comment box below!

Stop Medicare Waste - John Stossel's Take

John Stossel recently took to his blog in continued support of Amigo's goal of reducing Medicare waste in the mobility industry. Here is an excerpt from his blog post on FoxBusiness.com:

Medicare is going broke, but almost no one wants to cut any of it.

In my Fox Business show on "Government Healthcare Gone Wrong," I reported how tax money is generously given to people who buy power wheelchairs. Commercials say you can get them at "little or no cost to you!" It's true. And about 170,000 people did last year!

But of course there is a cost, and taxpayers pick up the tab--about $700 Million last year.

Not all of them really needed a $3000 power wheel chair. Fraud and overspending has been a problem for the past decade. According to the US Inspector General, more than half of people who got the power chairs in 2007 never proved a need for them. Meanwhile, elderly people who might benefit from power scooters, which might be a better option for them, often don't get them, because Medicare pays a smaller percentage of their cost.

We featured power scooters in our segment because they cost the government a third of what power chairs do. Is it a better choice than a power chair? Probably for some. The point is that when government pays 100% for expensive health care, and a panel of bureaucrats decides which devices qualify and which don't, money is wasted.

To read the full blog post, click here.

Amigo Service Video: Quick and Easy Arm Adjustments

Do the arms on your Amigo need adjusting? Watch the video below to learn a few simple steps for more comfortable positioning. You can view more service videos by visiting the Amigo YouTube Channel. 

Do you have a service question? Contact our team of Amigo service technicians at 1-800-248-9131 or email service@myamigo.com. You can also visit myamigo.com for troubleshooting tips.

What's New at Amigo

Our commitment to the environment continues as we renew our Green Business Certification for 2012 and 2013! Since our original certification in 2008, we have continued to find innovative ways to go green. 

Nearly one third of our suppliers are in our home state of Michigan, which helps reduce transportation costs and waste. We ship our Amigos on eco-friendly pallets and use recyclable shrink wrapping, which saves an estimated 700,000 square feet of cardboard each year.

Our employees are also committed to making Amigo a green business. Every small decision makes a difference, whether it be printing double sided, using scrap paper instead of a writing pad or switching to a reusable water bottle. We are proud of our green business status and will continue to look for new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in the future.

Leave us your favorite green tip in the comment section below!