Vehicular lifts for wheelchairs and scooters represent a product segment that may help HME dealers put pedal to the metal as they speed along the highway to success. But when it comes to lifts, most dealers slam on the brakes.

“One reason for their reluctance to offer lifts is that they are too busy with their other service lines to give lifts the attention they deserve,” says Adam Fine, president of Los Angeles-based Accessible Design and Consulting Inc. “Another reason is that manufacturers of lifts have not done all they can to educate dealers about the market potential for the product.”

According to Fine, the growing desire among wheelchair and scooter users to engage in a more active lifestyle is increasing the demand for vehicular lifts. “You are not going to be greatly interested in a lift if you use your scooter or wheelchair only to occasionally visit the corner convenience store,” he says. “But if you want to get out and about on a regular basis, and your plans involve traveling distances of more than a couple of blocks, then a lift will hold a great deal of appeal.”

The typical lift for a car, truck, or van costs $1,200 to $2,100, installation included. Unfortunately, Medicare does not reimburse for lifts. Neither do the majority of private insurers.

“There are exceptions,” Fine says. “But for most payors, lifts are not considered a medical necessity. And there is no evidence that they are about to change their position any time soon.”

In Fine’s case, his customers pay for lifts either out-of-pocket or with the help of a charitable funding source. “An organization I often refer my clients to is the Jewish Free Loan Association, which makes interest-free loans in amounts of up to $10,000 for medical equipment or home modifications,” he says. “The association gives loan approvals within 2 days and allows repayment over as many as 5 years. The Jewish Free Loan Association serves only the Southern California market, but there are probably similar organizations in most large metropolitan areas. There are also numerous organizations, such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and community development agencies that write grants to individuals who want to obtain a vehicular lift.”

In addition, most major automakers have established rebate programs to assist scooter and wheelchair users with buying lifts in conjunction with the purchase of a new car, says Michael K. Shipp, MEd, CDRS, co-executive director for the Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (www.aded.net) in Ruston, La. “Car buyers who qualify for these programs receive up to $1,000 in cash back,” he says.

Tricky Business
There are three primary types of lifts. One transfers a wheelchair or scooter in and out of a van’s side cargo door or through a truck’s tailgate. A second hoists the mobility device into a carrier mounted at the rear end of a sedan. A third deposits the chair or scooter into a passenger car’s trunk.

Installing lifts can be tricky because the work invariably entails modifications to the vehicle’s chassis, body, and electrical system. The National Mobility Equipment Dealer’s Association (NMEDA) has developed guidelines that dealers can follow to get the job done correctly and without compromising the safety of the vehicle’s occupants.

“The guidelines—which have been crash-tested and certified—spell out which lifts should be used with which vehicles,” says Marcus Smith, owner and president of Access Vans of Louisiana in Grosse Tete, La. “The guidelines are so thorough that they even tell you what kinds of nuts and bolts ought to be used.”

NMEDA updates the guidelines annually and makes them available for free to its members, Smith says. Nonmembers may order the guidelines for a fee. Visit the association’s Web site at www.nmeda.org for more information.

As with installation, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about selecting the most appropriate lift, Fine says. “The wrong way is to buy the scooter first, then the vehicle and finally the lift,” he says. “Not all scooters and lifts are compatible. In fact, there are more incompatible combinations than there are compatible ones.”

The correct approach is to first make sure the scooter and the lift are compatible, then buy those together, and finally check to see which vehicle is appropriate for that combination before purchasing the car, he says. Of particular concern are rear mounted lifts whose weight on the back end of a front-wheel-drive car can cause vehicle handling problems, Shipp says.

“Responsibly minded lift manufacturers will be able to provide a listing of the automobile makes and models that will be appropriate for their products,” he says.

Finally, remember to assess if the lift user will have the strength and mobility necessary to operate the lift. A showroom with a demonstrator lift mounted to a mock-up of a car’s rear end can provide the ideal opportunity to find out whether a user will have problems. In the showroom, the user can go through all the steps of readying a scooter or wheelchair for transport to see if he or she can actually perform those functions properly and easily.

“The more you can do to eliminate problems for your clients, the more successful you are going to be with lifts,” Shipp says.

Rich Smith is a contributing writer for Dealer/Provider.