Three years ago, you may recall, New Mexico became the first state to pass prosthetic insurance-reform legislation under the So Every Body Can Move (SEBCM) banner. This spring, it became the first to enact legislation extending the same insurance provisions to wheelchairs.
The new law will increase access and affordability for activity-specific wheelchairs—i.e., devices used for sports, exercise, travel, and other specialized endeavors. It builds directly on New Mexico’s SEBCM law, which passed in 2023 with virtually no opposition. And it garnered the same overwhelming level of support, sailing through both chambers unanimously in a brisk 29 days. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the bill into law on March 6.
Using many of the same mechanisms as SEBCM, New Mexico’s new wheelchair law prevents insurers from routinely invoking the “not medically necessary” clause to deny claims that carry profound medical implications. According to the United Spinal Association, “Wheelchair users face constant insurance denials and delays in obtaining appropriate equipment.” Those policies routinely cause “injuries and secondary health conditions such as pressure injuries (pressure sores) and rotator cuff and carpal tunnel injuries.” They also prevent wheelchair users from participating in activities that optimize their fitness, mental health, independence, employability, and overall quality of life.
The New Mexico bill is the latest in a string of policy changes expanding access to complex rehabilitation technology (CRT). In 2023, Medicare/Medicaid began covering seat-elevation technology in power wheelchairs, reclassifying this feature as medically necessary instead of a luxury option. Last year, Colorado passed groundbreaking “right-to-repair” legislation, designed to streamline the cumbersome, often months-long process of routine maintenance, parts replacement, and other fixes for high-tech chairs. And the US Senate considered a bill in 2024 to broaden insurance coverage for manual wheelchairs.
Disability advocates hope New Mexico’s precedent-setting wheelchair law will have the same impact the state’s original SEBCM bill did—establishing a model that other states can follow. Amputee advocate Kyle Stepp, who assembled the grassroots coalition behind SEBCM in New Mexico, played a similar role on behalf of the wheelchair legislation, working in partnership with the National Coalition for Assistive & Rehab Technology. State representative Liz Thomson, who cosponsored New Mexico’s SEBCM legislation, also authored the bill expanding insurance coverage for wheelchairs.
The team used many of the same tactics that helped the SEBCM bill garner overwhelming bipartisan support. They presented powerful, personal testimony from people whose lives are affected by insurance denials. They offered detailed financial analysis showing that broader coverage reduces government health expenditures over the long run by promoting a healthier population. And they maintained a collaborative spirit that celebrates shared victories over bitter, bruising, winner-take-all partisan warfare.
A second state, Missouri, already has taken up the baton by introducing an SEBCM bill that covers prosthetics, orthotics, and wheelchairs. “This movement is growing because people are choosing to advocate for what’s right,” Stepp wrote on LinkedIn—and to correct a wrong that has existed for far too long.
