Evidence Update: Finally, a Compelling Case for Coverage for Adaptive Bikes

Doctors of all stripes have known for years that their patients with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) benefit from riding a bicycle; almost needless to say. However, health insurance coverage for adaptive bikes has been rare at best, and this needs to change.

Thanks to the work of Mary Gannotti, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Hartford, and her team of four fellow academics, a recently published policy brief sheds light on the clear physical and psychosocial benefits of cycling equipment for the NDD population. It builds a strong case, based on compelling existing research showing that adaptive bikes should be recognized as durable medical equipment and are, in fact, medically necessary for people with NDD.

Generally speaking, payers have yet to recognize the immediate and lifelong health improvements (with corresponding reductions in health costs) that result directly from access to daily adaptive cycling.

The summary effectively dismantles this policy failure and provides regulatory and legislative paths for change.

He also explains that the defense isn’t just for the obvious health benefits of adaptive cycling; it is also an ethical imperative. Our restrictive definition of durable medical equipment effectively denies access to cycling for the NDD community. As a result, we expose this population to a number of comorbidities. If this is going to change, and it must, then this policy brief it can become an essential tool in effecting that change.

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