Will Medicare Pay For My Home Hospital Bed?

December 6, 2017

Old Man Sleeping on a Home Hospital Bed

A good night’s sleep is the gateway to complete health and wellness.

That’s a line taken directly from our website. It’s not just marketing mumbo jumbo, it’s one of our core beliefs. Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining good health. Getting adequate rest on a consistent basis helps protect your mental health, physical health, and quality of life. It can mean the difference between adjusting to whatever comes your way and having difficulty coping with change, the difference between optimal wellbeing and increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. We spend over 200,000 hours of our lives in bed so it’s not overstating it to say that sleep is the underpinning of good health.

But for people suffering an illness or injury, getting a good night’s sleep can be a challenge, one that eventually leads to slower recovery or suboptimal health. Without the proper equipment, the search for a place to rest and recover can become a living nightmare. Luckily, there are options that can reduce discomfort and hospital visits and help support healthy patients in the comforts of home.

Home Hospital Beds

In the same way that shoes provide protection and comfort for our feet, a home hospital bed provides safety and comfort for your entire body and serves two main purposes:

  • A home hospital bed allows for body positioning not feasible in a regular bed.
  • A home hospital bed allows for the attachment of other equipment that cannot be used on a regular bed.

What are the benefits of a hospital bed?

In addition to supporting comfortable rest and a good night’s sleep, home hospital beds provide five main benefits:

  1. Ideal Positioning: Home hospital beds help support ideal patient positioning to minimize the risk of pressure wounds.
  2. Increased Circulation Through Frequent Repositioning: Home hospital beds facilitate changes in position that can improve circulation, leading to improved wound healing, decreased swelling, and fewer foot infections.
  3. Safety: Home hospital beds can improve safety and decrease the likelihood of patient falls.
  4. Easier Transfers: Through additional features like bed rails and the option to change the bed position (e.g. elevating the head of the bed or lowering the bed closer to the floor), home hospital beds can assist with the transition in and out of bed, a common challenge for patients moving from inpatient hospitalization to home care.

What to expect from home hospital beds and accessories

At Wound Care, we offer hospital beds and accessories designed to meet our patients medical needs.

Semi-Electric Hospital Beds

Semi-Electric hospital beds allow  the position of the head and feet to be adjusted automatically, the height of the bed frame is manually adjusted via a hand crank.

Beds with Full/Half-Size Rails

Rails are an essential safety tool for patients who seek to maintain their independence and the ability to get in and out of bed alone.

Hospital Bed Trapeze

A hospital bed trapeze bar allows patients to independently move and changes positions while still in bed. This accessory is another essential tool for helping maintain patient independence and assisting in transitions.

Gel Mattress Overlay

Gel Mattress Overlays can be put on any bed and provide patients with a supportive barrier between them and the surfaces they’re regularly bound to. Incontinent patients who are particularly susceptible to moisture changes due to moisture may find added benefit from a Gel Mattress Overlay.

Low Air Loss Mattress

Low Air Loss Mattresses are categorized by Medicare as a pressure ulcer treatment product. They can also serve the preventative goal of halting the advanced staging of pressure ulcers. Many patients find low air loss mattresses so helpful, they never want to give them back, even when their treatment is complete! It is important to note that patients must have a pressure ulcer on the trunk, pelvis, or buttocks in order to qualify for a low air loss mattress.

Will Medicare pay for my home hospital bed?

Now for the $64 million question – will Medicare pay for my home hospital bed?

  • Your doctor has completed the written prescription and provided supporting medical documentation
  • If your doctor has prescribed the use of a hospital bed in your home, and
  • You have a medical condition that requires precise body positioning not possible in an ordinary bed,  and you require frequent repositioning.
  • You are a Medicare beneficiary enrolled in Original Medicare (Part A and Part B)

Then yes, Medicare may cover a portion of the cost of a home hospital bed (up to 80% after your deductible). Remember that both your doctor and your medical equipment supplier must also participate in the Medicare program for coverage to apply.

Wound Care Solutions has a full range of hospital beds and other homecare equipment to suit every need, all designed with prevention in mind, keeping patients at home, healthy, and out of the hospital. Visit us today to learn more.

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