Traveling With Disabilities

• Ability Center - On-line mobility store offering wheelchair accessible rental vans, scooters, powered wheelchairs as well as service in San Diego and Orange County.

• Access Travel Center - Comprehensive listings of all things pertaining to disabled and senior travel.

• Access-Able Travel Source - Providing access information to mature and disabled travelers.

• Accessible Europe - Provides accessible accommodations, transports, sightseeings and excursions all over Europe.

• Accessible Journeys - Offering vacation information designed exclusively for the slow walker, or wheelchair traveler. Includes cruise and independent travel, as well as a newsletter.

• Accessible Kiwi Tours - A New Zealand tour company that caters to the disabled and elderly.

• Accessible Travel Information -Links to travel planning, destinations and transportation.

• Accessible Vacation Home Exchange - A free online exchange that matches disabled persons who want to exchange accessible homes during vacations.

• Accessible Van Rentals - Listing of rental companies by state.

• Alternative Leisure - Offering a wide variety of trips, cruises and camps from day trips in Boston to vacations in Italy.

• Armchair World - A listing of several agencies specializing in travel and vacations for the disabled.

• Assistance Travel Service - World wide holidays tailor made to suit specific needs of the less abled and their families.

• Breakaway Holidays - Breakaway provides a holiday service for adults with a range of special needs. Offers holidays around the UK and Europe.

• Can Be Done - Provides tours and holidays for the less agile and disabled, specializing in European and Canadian trips.

• Centre d'hémodialyse de l'Archette - Private dialysis clinic open year-round in France.

• Connie George Travel - Vacation planning for groups and individuals for cruises, tours and packages. Specializing in deaf travel and wheelchair cruises.

• CyproDial Holiday Dialysis Unit - Based in Limassol, Cyprus,gives opportunity to enjoy the island while receiving personalised Hemodialysis with highly trained and multilingual medical and paramedical staff.

• Delta Air Lines: Services for Travelers with Disabilities - Information about services for disabled travelers including airport and in-flight accessibility and assistance.

• Dialysis At Sea Cruises - Handles medical and travel arrangements.

• Dialysis Unit at Royal Artemis Medical Center - Kidney failure disease patients can now travel to Paphos Cyprus and enjoy their vacations by the sea, while receiving their dialysis treatment in our kidney dialysis centers.

• Disability Hire Vehicles - Rentals of wheelchair access vans, minibuses, cars with hand controls or left foot accelerator. Located in Sydney, Australia.

• Disabled Directory - World-wide disabled accommodation guide.

• Disabled Traveler - Information, locations, and tips on products for the disabled traveler and family.

• Disaway - A UK organization offering several pre-planned trips per year.

• Discount Mobility USA - Offers wheelchair accessible van rentals in Orlando, Florida.

• Emerging Horizons - Accessible travel news and information for travelers with disabilities.

• Flying with Disability - Resource about air travel for disabled passengers. Information includes airport accessibility, medical assistance, airline notification, discrimination and disabled travellers' rights.

• Frontier Travel Camp - Special needs summer tours for individuals with add/adhd, learning disabilities, developmental disabilities. A new and exciting therapeutic travel experience. .

• Gimp on the Go - An on-line disabilities travel publication.

• Global Dialysis - Dialysis centres and travel around the world.

• Guided Tour, Inc - Supervised travel, recreation and vacation program for persons with developmental disabilities and mental retardation, featuring trips all over the USA and the world.

• Handi Travel Services TPI - Specializes in a full selection of travel solutions for people with disabilities.

• Handicap Accessible Vans Rentals - Provides handicap accessible van rentals and leasing nationwide.

• Handicap Van Rentals - Provides handicap accessible van rentals and leasing in the Houston, Texas and surrounding areas.

• Ironsides Mobility Systems - Specializing in handicapped van rentals for the Washington, D.C. area.

• Island Dialysis - Offers dialysis care in the Caribbean.

• Kastaway Island - Pre paid holiday packages and weekly charter sales for hearing impaired.

• Medical Travel - A full service medical travel agency that caters only to people with medical needs and arranges accessible cruises and land vacations.

• Mesogeios Mediterranean Holiday Dialysis Center S.A. - Mesogeios is the first and only holiday dialysis center in Greece.

• Midwest Mobility - Wheelchair accessible vans for purchase and rental throughout the midwest.

• Mobility Motorhomes - Independent New Zealand travel by rental motorhome for persons confined to a wheelchair.

• MossRehab ResourceNet: Accessible Travel - Information and resources for the disabled traveler.

• Northwest Airlines - Guide detailing what kinds of accessibility services and equipment are available for people with disabilities.

• Quantas Airlines: Mobility Assistance - Information about equipment and services for people with disabilities.

• People and Places - A not-for-profit organization providing small group travel and vacation opportunities for persons with developmental disabilities and special needs to destinations around the world.

• Planet Mobility - Handicap wheelchair accessible travel and vacations. Rent a wheelchair van anywhere.

• Rainbow Wheels - Provides wheelchair accessible rental vans for disabled users in the state of Florida.

• Rebecca's Travels - Articles about travel experiences for the mobility impaired.

• Renting Cars With Hand Controls - Information about independent travel for disabled drivers.

• Society For Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH) - A non-profit agency offering assistance and information for travelers with disabilities. Includes information for travel agents, resources, and a calendar of events.

• Sprout - A year round travel program for people with developmental disabilities. Offers "Sproutstock," a weekend music and arts festival exclusively for the population we serve.

• Sunset Cruise Agency - Cruise opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing people

• The Garnet Access Project - Promotes access to the countryside for disabled people using quad bikes and amphibious six-wheelers.

• The Journey of a Lifetime Trust - A charitable and volunteer organization that take disabled and disadvantaged youngsters on a month long vacation.

• The World on Wheels - Accessibility reports on vacations spots in the United States and Mexico. Detailed travel reviews on each site.

• Travel Aides International - Medical companions and a travel agency for the disabled and seniors.

• Travel Oxygen - Providing for the disabled traveler who requires oxygen and durable medical equipment arrangements for domestic, international or cruise travel in thousands of cities in the United States and in over one hundred foreign countries.

• Traveling With a Wheelchair Bound Companion - Advice for travel with a person who uses a wheelchair. List of trips and descriptions of trip. E-mail link for asking questions.

• Trips, Inc. - Offers vacation travel and outings for adults with special needs such as developmental disabilities, mental retardation, or physical handicaps. Online calendar and booking, activity descriptions, and media appearances highlighted. Also provides photographs, chaperone information, and travel links.

• Tulip Travel - Travel agency specializing in supervised vacations for individuals with developmental disabilities.

• United Airlines: Customers with Disabilities - Details of services and options available for disabled and special need passengers.

• Wecare Tours and Travel - A Sydney based business that specialises in tours and travel for the disabled within Australia and overseas.

• Wheelabout Van Rentals and Sales - Provides handicap accessible van rentals and leasing in the Sydney, Australia and Brisbane.

• Wheelchair Getaways Accessible Van Rentals - Offers wheelchair accessible van rentals throughout the United States and Canada. Handicap ramp or disabled lift equipped vehicles can include hand controls, transfer seats and wheelchair tie downs. Our lowered floor minivans are late model VMI and Braun rental vehicles.

• Wheelchair Travel - Provides rental vans with wheelchair lifts, hand controls, Fiat Fiorino accessible cars. London sight-seeing, meet and greet, airport transfers and day tours also available.

In the last 15 years, the motorized wheelchair (also known as the power wheelchair) has made it possible for hundreds of thousands of Americans to regain their mobility and live their lives independently. The vast majority of these power wheelchair owners received their equipment through Medicare s power mobility benefit. What is the power mobility benefit and how does a person qualify for an power wheelchair? The next few paragraphs will give you some insight into Medicare s guidelines.

Medicare spends around $1.5 Billion annually on power wheelchairs and power operated vehicles (mobility scooters). Medicare considers a beneficiary s ability to safely participate in one or more Mobility Related Activities of Daily Living (MRADLs). These activities of daily living include dressing, grooming, toileting, bathing and eating in customary locations within the home (which can include assisted living centers). In order to qualify for an power wheelchair, a person must need assistance with one or more of these daily living activities.

This means if a person only needs help going to the grocery store, the shopping mall or someplace else outside the home, Medicare will not pay for an power wheelchair. The person must have at least one daily living activity need inside the home to be considered for an power wheelchair.

If a person needs mobility assistance inside the home to perform daily living activities, the next thing Medicare is going to examine is if a person can get by safely with a cane, walker or manual wheelchair. Since these are less expensive items, Medicare wants to try them first. Many people may be able to get around with a cane or walker for part of the day, but then weaken or get tired as the day goes on. Others may not be able to safely walk the home with a cane or walker due to frequent falls. Many people will not be able to propel themselves in a manual wheelchair due to lack of strength or other upper body conditions.

Once a person has determined that he or she needs additional mobility assistance inside the home and other mobility aids (cane, walker, wheelchair, etc.) have been ruled out, it is time to consult a physician or medical equipment company to initiate the power wheelchair evaluation and approval process.

Learn more about how you can get a power wheelchair free at Medicare-Medicaid.com. Learn everything you need to know about medicare and medicaid at the Medicare-Medicaid.com Resource Center. Visit Medicare-Medicaid.com Today.