How to Pay for a Lift Chair Through Medicare
Use the step-by-step process detailed below as a guide to ensure reimbursement for your lift chair through Medicare.
Medicare Part B Coverage
Obviously, securing the right coverage is the first step before purchasing a lift chair that Medicare will reimburse you for. This includes enrolling in Medicare Parts A and B, paying your monthly premiums, and meeting your annual deductible.
Once you meet your $203 deductible, Medicare Part B will cover 80 percent of Medicare-approved DME purchases. In the case of a lift chair, this means Medicare will reimburse you for 80 percent of the cost for the lifting tool that the lift chair uses. Unfortunately, the government does not consider the chair portion of a lift chair to be medically necessary, which means you’ll be financially responsible for the cost of the actual chair and 20 percent of the cost for the lifting system.
Medicare-Enrolled Physicians
Work with your Medicare-enrolled physician to determine whether or not a lift chair is a medically necessary step for you or your loved one. If you decide to move forward with purchasing a lift chair, make sure you get a prescription and fill out and submit a Certificate of Medical Necessity for Seat Lift Mechanisms Form with your provider.
Medicare-Participating Suppliers
As you shop around for your lift chair, ensure you ask all potential sellers whether or not they are a Medicare participating supplier. If they are not, Medicare will not reimburse you for the lifting device. You may want to start your search by entering your ZIP code on Medicare’s page for medical equipment and suppliers to avoid any problems down the road. Once you’ve found a Medicare-approved vendor that offers the chair you want, double-check its approval and go ahead and make your purchase.
Reimbursement
In most cases, you’ll need to purchase your lift chair upfront and then submit all the required information to Medicare for reimbursement. Medicare will approve your eligibility after confirming that your prescription dictates the chair’s medical necessity and that you’re using a Medicare-participating supplier. After all, you don’t want to find out you’re not eligible for reimbursement after you’ve paid for the chair, had it delivered, and gotten used to it.
Once you’ve made your purchase, most Medicare-approved sellers will submit a claim to Medicare for you. However, you can also submit it yourself. Claims submitted online are processed more quickly and can take as few as 14 days. Typically, all claims will process in about 30 days.