A Thomasville science teacher received a stand-up wheelchair from a local nonprofit after insurance denied his claim for the life-changing equipment.
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Thomasville teacher surprised with stand-up wheelchair after insurance denies medical necessity claim
A Thomas County Middle School science teacher who has not been able to stand up for nearly two decades received a life-changing surprise after insurance companies deemed a stand-up wheelchair not “medically necessary.”
Ben Huntzinger walked into his school to find his students, his mother, and his wife waiting for him. Local nonprofit Lives Without Limits surprised him with a stand-up chair, a piece of equipment he spent over a year trying to get.
“So I thought, oh, I’ve either done something wrong, or there’s something big going on here,” Huntzinger said.
Huntzinger faced delays from insurance and roadblocks with Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation. He said the main issue was insurance not deeming the chair a medical necessity. He also faced setbacks, such as the wheelchair company not being an active approved vendor, creating delays and dead ends that eventually forced him to give up on getting the chair through insurance.
“And they had purchased one of these for me at a much more reasonable cost, and it was absolutely perfect. It’s Georgia Bulldog colors. And it does the same thing that the $15,000 one does. So immediately I got to stand up and hug my wife,” Huntzinger said.
Standing up to hug his wife is something Huntzinger was not able to do for over four years.
“You’re gonna make me cry I met him when he was paralyzed. I know it means the world to him to be able to stand. He thinks it means a lot to me, but I love him just the way he is,” Stephanie Huntzinger said.
The surprise also brought joy to his colleagues.
“Oh, my God. When I saw him, I was happy because the first thing I wanted to do was give him a hug. And then to see the kids see him, he was just beaming, and the kids were excited as well, so that was perfect,” math teacher Lakesha Lawson said.
The stand-up chair makes a significant difference for Huntzinger, especially in the classroom.
“It is definitely useful to be able to stand up and tell them to be quiet versus sitting and looking up at them. So you get an easier classroom management, but I think probably the most important thing it kind of bridges a gap of maybe people that are disabled are kind of different. And this is showing them in real world, Mr. Huntzinger is just like us,” Huntzinger said.
The chair also provides significant physical benefits.
“He needs to be able to get off and stand up, build the strength of the bones, increase the circulation, have decreased pressure so that he can work. That’s why he’s here,” Billie Joe Beverly of Lives Without Limits said.
Huntzinger said he hopes his story raises awareness and pushes insurance companies to make it easier to access equipment that helps people with disabilities live more normal, accessible lives, even if it is not considered medically necessary.
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