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October 2004

Michael Johns

Michael Johns is the insurance department director at Electric Mobility Corporation, Sewell, NJ, manufacturer and distributor of Rascal powerchairs and scooters. He is responsible for all Medicare, Medicaid, workers’ compensation, and private insurance sales for the company. Rehab Management caught up with Johns to speak to him about Electric Mobility and the latest industry trend.

Q: Tell us about your company and its products.
A: Electric Mobility Corporation manufactures and distributes Rascal powerchairs and scooters. Our company has 30 years of distinguished history in the mobility industry, which makes us one of the most established companies in the power mobility business. We also are a very insurance- and rehabilitation-friendly company, working with customers to process both Medicare and other insurance assignment claims, and working with physicians and rehabilitation professionals to provide some of the best mobility products available. Our Rascal powerchairs, scooters and rehabilitation mobility products are among the best recognized brands in the rehabilitation and mobility industry.

Q: What keeps your customers coming back?
A: I think our customers see us as a partner in the management of their underlying disease, and as an advocate for their mobility. Our goal is to enhance the lives of our customers, to keep them out of institutional care settings, if that can be prevented, and to ensure that they are delivered the right product and that we maintain some relationship with the customer, even after the transaction. One of the many reasons I joined Electric Mobility is that we are a company that has all the caring and personal touch that you would expect in a family-owned company like ours. Yet, we also have the national presence and brand recognition that you would commonly associate with a large, publicly traded company. When you combine caring and capability, as we do, you have a company that really enhances the lives of people. And we do that every day.

Q: What industry trends have you noticed lately?
A: The most obvious trend is that Medicare is in a state of disarray and introspection as it relates to power mobility. A customer who can’t walk and can’t propel a manual wheelchair needs power mobility. And under current Medicare guidelines, they should obtain it. But in many cases, Medicare is somewhat arbitrarily denying the benefit. They are doing this presumably to preserve Medicare expenditures. But the reality is that, by denying this benefit when it is needed, we are actually driving up Medicare and other health expenditures in other areas. There are thousands of patients in long-term care facilities who, if they were afforded access to power mobility, could still live at home. There are many examples of patients deteriorating unnecessarily, with hip fractures and the like, because they are trying to ambulate with inadequate equipment. We need to make this benefit more widely available, and I am hopeful that Medicare will soon see the merit in this and expand appropriate access to power mobility.

-By Arati Murti

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