What Medical Equipment is Covered by Medicare

Uncategorized Sep 22, 2022

You all may have heard the term DME when your loved one is leaving the hospital or rehabilitation facility. The letters DME is an abbreviation for Durable Medical Equipment.   There are all different kinds of equipment that you may need now as a result of an injury or acute diagnosis which is causing a decrease in mobility or decreased independence of performing activities of daily living.  The equipment is ordered either temporarily for an injury to assist you, or as diseases progress to provide the necessary safety in the home.  Some examples of equipment that may be needed could be a hospital bed, transfer bench, shower chair, commode, wheelchair and even oxygen.

 

As long as the DME is medically necessary with a prescription from your physician,  Medicare will pay for the equipment.  So with that being said you don’t need to be leaving a hospital or a rehabilitation facility to get this durable medical equipment.  If you are being discharged from a facility, the discharge planner should have spoken to family members as far as the equipment they need to keep the patient safe when returning home,  and the equipment will already have been ordered to be delivered prior to discharge.  If the hospital orders the equipment for you they are skilled at the guidelines so there shouldn’t be significant charges incurred.

 

If you are about to order necessary DME for the home I would love to give you some tips that may be helpful.  The first thing you need to do as the advocate is to get the prescription from the physician stating the equipment needed is a medical necessity for the particular diagnosis.  Then you need to look for a medical supply store.  Most of the employees that will assist you are usually very helpful and will make every effort to assist with insurance approvals for particular items.  The objective would be to get the equipment needed paid for by insurance or paying the least amount of charges.  The first question you would need to ask is if their company accepts Medicare?  Just like the physician visits, this controls the cost alittle.  Ask if they are a Medicare enrolled supplier?   If the supplier doesn’t have a Medicare number, Medicare will not pay your claim.  They should have a Medicare supplier number.  Then you should also ask them if they accept assignment?  This is a really great thing for you because assignment is an agreement for the supplier to be paid directly by Medicare, to accept the payment amount that Medicare approves, and not to bill you any more than the Medicare deductible and coinsurance.

 

It has always been my experience when working for ten years in community health that most suppliers that work with Medicare are honest and will try to assist you every way they can.

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