If you are a disabled person who uses a manual wheelchair, when it is time to replace it there isn’t usually any problems. If something goes wrong with it, medical insurance will cover any repairs or replacement.
Problems occur when you don’t have any medical coverage or if you moved up to a power wheelchair or scooter. Manual wheelchairs cost up to $300 or more depending on your needs for the wheelchair. If you don’t have medical equipment coverage the cost will have to be borne by you.
If you have a power chair or scooter, medical companies take it to mean you no longer need a manual wheelchair and they will not repair or replace your manual wheelchair. The cost again will be out of your pocket or you will simply have to do without a manual wheelchair.
There are ways to repair or replace your manual wheelchair that are inexpensive. Check out flea markets or let friends or family know you are looking for old wheelchairs for parts. Once you find one or you, you can begin taking off the parts and replacing them on your manual wheelchair. Tires and seats seem to wear out the quickest and need replacing most often.
You might find a used wheelchair that might be in better condition than the one you have. In this case just use the wheelchair you found and make a second good chair from the other spare parts. Now you have a spare manual wheelchair.
If you don’t have any luck finding any used chairs, contact the nearest medical equipment company and find out the cost of the part that you need. Once you get the part you can make the repair yourself if you are able or have a friend or family member help you out. This is much less expensive than having the medical equipment company do the repair.
A friend or family member will be happy to help you out in any way. If you do have a power chair or scooter, you should still use your manual wheelchair as much as possible, unless your doctor advises otherwise.
The manual wheelchair will keep your upper body mobile especially your arms and you don’t have to become totally dependent on the power chair or scooter.
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