Private equity now controls the entire wheelchair market, and people are suffering

[CitizenVectron]

As private equity dominates wheelchair market, users wait months for repairs

WWW.STATNEWS.COM

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Over the last decade, private equity firms acquired scores of wheelchair makers. Now, users routinely wait months to get their chairs repaired.

 

Two Behemoths Dominate the Motorized Wheelchair Industry. Disabled Customers Pay the Price. – Mother Jones

WWW.MOTHERJONES.COM

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The mom-and-pop shops of the past are gone. In their place? Skeleton crews, long waits, and endless bureaucracy.

 

 

 

Effectively, two companies now control the wheelchair industry. Because it's more profitable to sell new chairs than fix old ones, they have deprioritize that service and people can't get their existing devices repaired.

 

Quote

In just two years, Howey logged 4,000 miles in his chair. Then, in early August, a bearing seized, stranding him in bed until he could get a technician to service the chair. Howey called Numotion, the manufacturer responsible for repairs, right away. But Numotion didn't replace the part until October 26, more than 80 days after Howey first called.

 

A sudden loss of mobility can affect everything from wheelchair users' nutrition to their finances. Pressure sores from long stays in bed can lead to infections, hospitalization, even death. But Howey is one of thousands of disabled Americans increasingly experiencing long waits in a fast-consolidating market dominated by a handful of large national suppliers backed by private equity firms.

 

[CitizenVectron]

This is the same path that many other services are currently on, including veterinary care and many medical services. The next decade is going to see the consolidation of many critical societal functions under the umbrella of private equity firms that will slash services in order to service debt and extract value for shareholders (before the service providers are all used up and collapse).

[Uaarkson]

Damn. Is there anything capitalism can’t ruin?

[Air_Delivery]

Thats pretty much what that pharma bro and many others do. Search for niche markets that people are life dependant on and the barrier for entry for competitors is very difficult to impossible due to patents, regulations and/or startup costs and jack up the prices.

[Jwheel86]

Quote

Permobil F5 Corpus motorized wheelchair outfitted with an elevator lift motor, two batteries, headlights, and a joystick. Brand-new, it retails for almost $35,000.

 

Those are rookie numbers, my F3 was twice that. 

 

Correction to the article, these companies, DMEs, are vendors, not the manufacturer. Ideally I think it be better if DMEs just died and Permobil etc take over that responsibility. I've gotten more help from my Permobil rep directly than my DME. DMEs are the used car salesmen of the medical world, I've had some many shady experiences with them over the years, big, small, doesn't matter. 

[stepee]

oof

[LazyPiranha]

42 minutes ago, Jwheel86 said:

 

Those are rookie numbers, my F3 was twice that. 

 

Correction to the article, these companies, DMEs, are vendors, not the manufacturer. Ideally I think it be better if DMEs just died and Permobil etc take over that responsibility. I've gotten more help from my Permobil rep directly than my DME. DMEs are the used car salesmen of the medical world, I've had some many shady experiences with them over the years, big, small, doesn't matter. 

Your wheelchair was seventy thousand dollars?  

[PaladinSolo]

9 minutes ago, LazyPiranha said:

Your wheelchair was seventy thousand dollars?  

Welcome to the world of medical supplies, my daughters stroller was like 3500 and it's just a stroller for people bigger than toddlers, all because they can charge Medicaid. Like I can buy one on Amazon that is pretty damn close for 600. 

[Jwheel86]

4 minutes ago, LazyPiranha said:

Your wheelchair was seventy thousand dollars?  

 

Yeap, I don't know the exact number but in that ball park. Tilt, recline, powered feet, seat elevator, onmi controller, micro joystick, custom arm support, Roho back and seat cushion, Stealth headrest, EZLock, and a cup holder. Even comes with a cell phone charger, mount, and a joystick to bluetooth mouse module I used to type this message. 

[LazyPiranha]

There’s a $3,500 stroller which, let’s be real, is too much fucking money and a wheelchair that costs more than a brand new fully loaded BMW five series.

[Jwheel86]

2 minutes ago, LazyPiranha said:

There’s a $3,500 stroller which, let’s be real, is too much fucking money and a wheelchair that costs more than a brand new fully loaded BMW five series.

 

Swedish wheelchair flex 

 

[PaladinSolo]

11 minutes ago, LazyPiranha said:

There’s a $3,500 stroller which, let’s be real, is too much fucking money and a wheelchair that costs more than a brand new fully loaded BMW five series.

Well they haven't figured out how to make the BMW 5 series medically necessary and require a prescription to get Medicaid tk pay for it yet. 

[LazyPiranha]

7 minutes ago, Jwheel86 said:

 

Swedish wheelchair flex 

 

For 70k they could at least afford to put some background music in their YouTube videos, god damn.

[Jwheel86]

3 minutes ago, PaladinSolo said:

Well they haven't figured out how to make the BMW 5 series medically necessary and require a prescription to get Medicaid tk pay for it yet. 

 

Getting insurance to cover accessible vehicles would be the dream. New basic wheelchair accessible vehicles are $100k now easy. Wheelchair controls for a car are another $100k I've heard. What drives those costs through the roof is the VA.