Nearly 100 wheelchair users and disability advocates rallied outside of South Station in Boston on Tuesday to protest slow repairs of the moveable medical devices tens of thousands of people rely on in Massachusetts.
They say they often face long delays when they need to get their wheelchairs fixed, sometimes waiting months or more than a year at a time. These delays, they say, keep people stuck in their beds, missing work and family events, and negatively impacting their health.
Among protesters, Andrea Higgins from East Taunton said she arrived at the rally using a backup chair because her primary one was stuck with broken tires since May.
“I would like to get the chair companies to fix the wheelchairs faster,” she told GBH News. “It’s kind of like cutting off my legs.”
Many wheelchair users attribute the delays in repairs to the growing influence of private equity in the medical equipment industry here and across the United States.
The wheelchair repair market is dominated by two companies: Numotion and National Seating & Mobility. Both companies are owned by private equity investment firms, and each has bought up dozens of companies.
Protesters at the rally placed five empty wheelchairs near the outside speakers with photos of people who are currently waiting for a repair or have waited in the past.
“Look at their eyes. Remember their faces. These are real people with real lives that have been put on hold because the system failed them,” said Kay Schoucair, an organizer with Boston Center for Independent Living.
Advocates say the business model of private equity — buying up companies with the intention to restructure them and sell them — prioritizes profits and leads to cost-cutting that negatively impacts the consumer. They say this model prioritizes new chairs, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
“There is no money to be made in maintaining and repairing our wheelchairs, especially the customized ones,” said Colleen Flanagan, a wheelchair user and advocate. “But there is money to sell new shiny innovations, and that’s what the private equity companies are doing.”
William Fahey, who is from Wellesley and attended the event with his mother, said he has been waiting nine months for a part on his chair. He said he has missed work as a ticket taker for the New England Patriots and Red Sox, because of the wait.
“If you were in a wheelchair like myself, you would actually be kind of furious at how many times you have to wait,” he said.
Fahey said his father tried to fix his chair with parts ordered online. His mother spent hours on the phone and visited the local National Seating & Mobility office in Wilmington.
“It’s really frustrating,” said Fahey’s mother, Liz. “The people who are working there are good people. But there are two people there fixing seven wheelchairs. No one’s picking up the phone. The receptionist is in tears. And they don’t want it like that either. But the company won’t hire enough people to deliver the service.”
Ahead of the rally, advocates sent a letter to Cinven, Inc., the New York-based owner of NSM, and AEA Investors LP, the New York-based owner of Numotion, asking them to support the legislation.
“As the private equity owner of Numotion, AEA has the power to shape the company’s priorities. The decisions made in boardrooms have real consequences for wheelchair users across Massachusetts. While lawmakers can establish minimum standards, lasting change also requires the companies and investors who control this industry to choose supporting people’s independence and fundamental health as a baseline investment priority,” they wrote in the letter.
The companies didn’t respond to the letter, advocates say. They declined to comment to GBH News for this story.
Last month Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat who represents Massachusetts’ 7th District, introduced a bill in the U.S. House aimed at speeding up repairs for people enrolled in Medicare Advantage. The legislation also aims to get rid of a requirement that insurance companies approve repairs before they happen.
A pending bill at the Massachusetts State House also would require companies to finish repairs in 10 business days, modeled on a similar bill passed last year in Connecticut. The legislation also would require companies to respond to the fix request in one day and order the required parts in three days. The bill would allow users to sue if the repair violates the regulations.
“It’s outrageous that this bill has not been approved,” said State Rep. James O’ Day at the rally. “That we’re still dealing with individuals who are having their wheelchairs brought to the manufacturers, brought to the repair shops, where they wind up sitting there and sitting there and sitting there. … or worse even, still laying in their beds because they can’t get out of them.”
