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More than 5 million people across the country use a wheelchair, according to census data. When a part breaks down on those chairs, it's not just an inconvenience. It can lead to being stuck at home and to serious health consequences. Wheelchair users say they do not have many options when they need a repair because, in part, of the private equity industry. GBH's Meghan Smith has more.
MEGHAN SMITH, BYLINE: I'm walking around downtown Boston with Franklin Pineda-Lopez.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHEEL CLICKING)
SMITH: That is not what a wheelchair is supposed to sound like. One of his wheels is wobbly.
FRANKLIN PINEDA-LOPEZ: Our wheelchairs are our legs.
SMITH: This winter was tough on his chair. He's been waiting for a repair since February.
PINEDA-LOPEZ: I'd like to get to, you know, point A to point B as fast as possible, which is why I have to always remember to kind of slow down.
SMITH: For wheelchair users across the country, long waits for repairs are common. Delays can leave them stranded on sidewalks, stuck in bed, missing family milestones, and they say it's gotten worse over the past decade. They point to insurance approvals and a lack of technicians, but they say a growing reason for delays is the market is now controlled largely by two companies that are owned by private equity, Numotion and National Seating & Mobility.
PINEDA-LOPEZ: It's not like a car where there's many car shops. Something's wrong with your car, you know, you can take it anywhere and get it fixed.
SMITH: The two companies have bought up dozens of competitors in recent years. Neither responded to requests for comment for this story. But the National Coalition for Assistive & Rehab Technology, a nonprofit that represents the industry, said they agree the repair process should be faster, and they support overhauling insurance requirements and focusing on preventative maintenance. But wheelchair users partly blame the private equity industry, where investment firms buy up companies, restructure them and intend to sell them. Critics say the business model prioritizes profits and cost cutting.
JIM BAKER: It's really grown dramatically over the last couple of decades, and as that's happened, it's come to impact more and more aspects of people's lives.
SMITH: That's Jim Baker from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit watchdog group based in Chicago.
BAKER: What we're seeing in, you know, the wheelchair companies is a classic example of what private equity firms call a rollup transaction where essentially, they buy a company and then use it as a platform to buy lots of its competitors, right?
SMITH: A bill in the Massachusetts state House would require companies to finish repairs in 10 business days. Connecticut passed a similar bill last year. Other states have given wheelchair users the right to repair chairs themselves or find an independent provider. Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat, recently introduced a bill that would streamline the insurance process by removing the requirement for some users that repairs need to be preapproved. Destiny Maxam works at the Disability Policy Consortium in Boston.
DESTINY MAXAM: It all boils down to, like, in the simplicity of sake, is private equity.
SMITH: She says they prioritize providing new chairs versus making simple repairs.
MAXAM: My chair alone is over $80,000. They want to go for that versus, you know, a simple repair that's, you know, under $1,000 type of thing.
SMITH: Three years ago, Maxam's chair broke and she was stuck in bed. She developed pneumonia and ended up in the hospital on a breathing machine for two weeks while she waited to hear back from Numotion.
MAXAM: I remember coming off of the ventilator, and checking my phone was one of the first things that I wanted to do 'cause I wanted to see if - like, if they had called for the appointment. There was still nothing.
SMITH: It eventually took five months to get her chair fixed. Like almost every person I interviewed for this story, a part of Maxam's chair was broken as we spoke. For NPR News, I'm Meghan Smith in Boston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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