The SCOOTER Store goes belly up
NEW CASTLE, Del. The SCOOTER Store, a company that supplies power wheelchairs and scooters to people with limited mobility, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The company's bankruptcy filing in Delaware Monday cited changes in health care laws and government investigations as financially burdens and listed assets between $1 million and $10 million, and liabilities between $50 million and $100 million.
In a statement to "CBS This Morning," The SCOOTER Store Monday said it plans to restructure its business model under bankruptcy protection "through the sale of substantially all of its assets."
"Unfortunately, historical overhangs coupled with an increasingly complex regulatory environment and mounting economic pressure in the healthcare sector have significantly impacted the company's ability to operate under its currently model," said Martin Landon, CEO of The SCOOTER Store. "The company is using the chapter 11 vehicle to seek to create a new, financially healthy provider that operates in strict accordance with all legal, contractual and regulatory requirements."
The bankruptcy filing comes amid a scooter controversy, which escalated in February when the government raided The SCOOTER Store's headquarters in New Braunfels, Texas. It followed a "CBS This Morning" investigation into the company, in which three former employees said the SCOOTER Store ranked doctors based on whether they'd prescribe chairs, and that it had a program specifically to get chairs for people that physicians had already deemed ineligible.
The company has shed hundreds of jobs in recent months, with its workforce dwindling from about 1,800 down to about 300.
- Agents raid The SCOOTER Store headquarters
- The SCOOTER Store lays off hundreds of employees
- The SCOOTER Store blasted by lawmakers, physicians
Physicians and members of Congress last month blasted The SCOOTER Store and its rival, Hoveround, and scrutinized whether TV ads by the companies target people who don't need scooters, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary Medicare spending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.