NARIC’s Director Mark X. Odum shares his experience as a long-time wheelchair user, and his thoughts on the future of this most essential technology.

Today is International Wheelchair Day! Now in its 15^th year, International Wheelchair Day recognizes the important role wheelchairs can play in supporting independence and participation of people with disabilities. For many people with mobility disabilities, their manual or powered wheelchair is essential equipment, and their primary means of getting around inside their homes and outside in the community. Wheelchairs are independence.

As many of our readers know, I’ve been a power wheelchair user for more than 45 years after my spinal cord injury in 1974. Shortly after my injury, it was evident that if I were to complete my degrees at a huge, sprawling university campus, the only way I could succeed would be with an appropriately designed and fitted wheelchair. Being employed, business trips would never have been possible. Vacation travel with family and friends would not be memories, if even attempted. Without it, I would never have been able to contribute to the SCI community, let alone volunteer with local charities and groups. Wheelchairs have allowed me to be the person I would have been prior to my injury. Wheelchairs are life changing.   

While this technology is essential, it can also be expensive, and people like me rely on private and public insurance to help pay for it. Just last week, we shared an announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, about a possible change in coverage for powered wheelchairs. CMS has proposed that Medicare should cover powered seat elevation for certain powered wheelchairs. This technology can raise the seat in a powered chair, making it possible for a person to fully extend their legs, transfer safely from their chair to another surface, reach for and retrieve items on higher surfaces, and much more. This technology has the potential to reduce injuries from shoulder strain or falls. Because this technology is so essential to independence, participation, and health, I believe properly fitted and designed wheelchairs should be a civil right.

Both evidence from research and development and input from people with lived experience helped to inform this proposed change in coverage. NIDILRR-funded research and development in SCI and wheelchair technology is cited throughout the CMS proposal, highlighting the benefits of powered seat elevation for health and safety. The SCI community, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and other groups representing people with paralysis have testified, advocated, and written on the importance of this and other wheelchair technology for independence and participation, as well as the rights of wheelchair users to access and safety when traveling with this essential equipment. CMS continues to collect comments on the proposed coverage change through March 17^th, 2023.

Research and development in SCI and wheelchair technology have been and continue to be integral to my health, my independence, and my ability to participate at work and in my community. I’m very proud to be a part of the communities that have provided input for this proposed coverage. In the future, wheelchairs will be even more awesome than they are today. Already, engineers, programmers, and other scientists are creating chairs with sensors to monitor skin health, fast charging batteries that don’t need an outlet, and chairs that can climb and descend all kinds of terrain. Let’s celebrate the wheelchairs of today and dream about what’s coming in the future!