Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett is associate professor of family medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, vice chair of primary care innovation and transformation at Boston Medical Center, and communications fellow at Primary Care Collaborative. Dr. Anthony J. Mell is assistant professor of pediatrics at Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and assistant medical director and health equity clinical lead at Boston Medical Health System.
More than 35 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed so that those living with physical or mental disabilities would have the right “to fully participate in all aspects of society.” However, many wheelchair users in Massachusetts today still suffer from major disruptions in their lives, work, and health as a result of chronically delayed wheelchair repairs.
When Destiny Maxam’s wheelchair broke in 2024, Maxam submitted all the correct forms to her mobility solutions provider, but it took nine weeks for her chair to be repaired. In that time, she lost her independence and was ultimately hospitalized. She told us that “the system moved slowly. My body did not. Without my wheelchair, I was confined to my bed. I could not transfer independently. I could not reposition myself properly. Immobility set in quickly. My muscles weakened. My lungs weakened. What started as a delay turned into pneumonia. Pneumonia turned into hospitalization. Hospitalization turned into a ventilator.”
Keisha Greaves of Cambridge described a similar experience when her wheelchair joystick broke in 2025: “Although I contacted my provider right away, it took six weeks before a technician came. The repair took less than 30 minutes, but the wait was endless. … Being immobile affected my physical and emotional health — I felt stiff, isolated, and trapped.”
Massachusetts has made efforts to remedy the real problem of delays in wheelchair fixes. In October 2024, MassHealth invested nearly $4 million to reduce delays in wheelchair repairs. These investments provided $1,000 bonus payments for repair providers that completed repairs within 12 days. When these incentives were put into place, however, many critics noted that incentives alone would not be sufficient to change the behavior of the wheelchair market.
They argued that there was no recourse of action for wheelchair users when there were egregious breaches of service. Furthermore, these incentives did not address some of the other complicated underpinnings of wheelchair repair delays, including prior authorization requirements, low compensation for repairs, manufacturing delays for replacement parts, and limited competition among wheelchair dealers, which inhibits consumer choice and agency.
Currently, two companies largely dominate the wheelchair market in the United States and control all seven wheelchair supply stores in Massachusetts. These national suppliers are owned by private equity firms that, in the words of some disability advocates, “seek to increase profits and cut spending [which they do in part] by limiting what they spend on technicians and repairs.”
There is hope, however, on the horizon for Maxam, Greaves, and the thousands of other wheelchair users in Massachusetts.
Two bills currently under consideration in the Legislature would provide the accountability that is needed to put the needs and well-being of wheelchair users over the interests of the market.
The Senate bill eliminates the need for prior authorizations (paperwork previously required by health insurance companies to move forward with wheelchair repairs) for low-cost repairs of less than $1,000, while strengthening the warranties on wheelchairs. The House bill mandates that repairs be complete within 10 days after the request and removes the need for prior authorizations for repairs on models less than five years old. It also allows consumers to file lawsuits against wheelchair suppliers and repair companies if repairs are inordinately delayed.
“If these bills had already been law,” Maya Evohr of Easton told us, “I wouldn’t have had to endure six months of hardship for a 10-minute repair” of her wheelchair’s broken circuit board in 2025.
As doctors, we know that wheelchairs are not luxury items. They are freedom, employment, access to care, and a key tool for health. They are dignity in motion.
Every year that passes without direct legislative action means more inexcusable and dehumanizing experiences for wheelchair users.
The harms that Maxam, Greaves, and Evohr faced were not inevitable. They were the result of a society that has tolerated delay, deflection, and a lack of accountability for far too long. No one should lose work, miss school, withdraw from community life, or risk their health because a cushion, wheel, or joystick is stuck in bureaucratic limbo.