Will Medicare Pay for a Lift Chair?

Medicare will pay for a lift chair if your doctor prescribes it for use in your own home. A lift chair is considered to be durable medical equipment (DME), which is covered under Medicare Part B.

You do need Medicare Part B in order to receive this benefit, but keep in mind that the supplier must accept Medicare assignment.

If the supplier does not accept Medicare assignment, you may be subject to excess charges.

If the supplier does accept Medicare assignment, you would be responsible for:

• 20% coinsurance
• Your Part B deductible

If you have a Medicare Supplement Plan F, you would not have to pay excess charges, the 20% coinsurance, or your Part B deductible.

If you have a Medicare Supplement Plan G, you would not have to pay excess charges or the 20% coinsurance.

If you have a Medicare Supplement Plan N, you would not have to pay the 20% coinsurance.

You can read more about the differences between Medicare Supplements Plan F, G, and N here.

Medicare does pay for different kinds of durable medical equipment (DME) in different ways. For example, you may need to rent the lift chair, you may need to buy it, or you may be able to choose whether you rent or buy it.

Remember that you should ask if your doctors and DME suppliers are enrolled in Medicare and accept assignment. If they aren’t enrolled and they don’t accept assignment, Medicare won’t pay any claims for lift chairs.

If you live in or visit certain areas, you might be affected by Medicare’s Competitive Bidding Program. This program changes the amount the Medicare pays for certain DME items.

Suppliers submit bids to provide certain medical equipment and supplies to people with Medicare living in or visiting competitive bidding areas. Medicare then uses these bids to set the amount they’re willing to pay for each item.

The areas that are affected by Medicare’s Competitive Bidding Program are:

The Northeast

• Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
• Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA
• Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA
• Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
• Bristol County, MA
• Bronx-Manhattan, NY
• Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY
• Camden, NJ
• Elizabeth-Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ
• Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
• Jersey City-Newark, NJ
• Mercer County, PA
• Nassau, Kings, Queens & Richmond Counties, NY
• New Haven-Milford, CT
• Philadelphia, PA
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Port Chester-White Plains-Yonkers, NY
• Poughkeepsie-Newburgh- Middletown, NY
• Providence, RI
• Rochester, NY
• Rockingham & Strafford Counties, NH
• Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA
• Springfield, MA
• Suffolk County, NY
• Syracuse, NY
• Wilmington, DE
• Worcester, MA

The Midwest

• Akron, OH
• Aurora-Elgin-Joliet, IL
• Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL
• Cincinnati, OH
• Cleveland-Elyria, OH
• Columbus, OH
• Council Bluffs, IA
• Dayton, OH
• Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio, & Union Counties, IN
• Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
• East St. Louis, IL
• Flint, MI
• Gary, IN
• Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
• Huntington, WV
• Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN
• Jeffersonville-New Albany, IN
• Kansas City, MO
• Kansas City-Overland Park-Ottawa, KS
• Kenosha County, WI
• Lake & McHenry Counties, IL
• Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
• Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN
• Omaha, NE
• Pierce & St. Croix Counties, WI
• St. Louis, MO
• Toledo, OH
• Wichita, KS
• Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH

The South

• Aiken & Edgefield Counties, SC
• Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA
• Asheville, NC
• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
• Augusta-Richmond County, GA
• Austin-Round Rock, TX
• Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
• Baton Rouge, LA
• Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
• Birmingham-Hoover, AL
• Calvert, Charles & Prince George's Counties, MD
• Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
• Catoosa, Dade & Walker Counties, GA
• Charleston-North Charleston, SC
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC
• Chattanooga, TN
• Chester, Lancaster & York Counties, SC
• Columbia, SC
• Covington-Florence-Newport, KY
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
• Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
• El Paso, TX
• Greensboro-High Point, NC
• Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
• Jackson, MS
• Jacksonville, FL
• Knoxville, TN
• Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
• Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
• Louisville-Jefferson County, KY
• McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
• Memphis, TN
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
• Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN
• New Orleans-Metairie, LA
• North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
• Ocala, FL
• Oklahoma City, OK
• Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
• Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
• Raleigh, NC
• Richmond, VA
• San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
• Silver Spring-Rockville-Bethesda, MD
• South Haven-Olive Branch, MS
• Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
• Tulsa, OK
• Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA
• Washington, DC

The West

• Albuquerque, NM
• Bakersfield, CA
• Boise City, ID
• Colorado Springs, CO
• Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
• Fresno, CA
• Honolulu, HI
• Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV
• Los Angeles County, CA
• Orange County, CA
• Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
• Portland-Hillsboro-Beaverton, OR
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
• Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA
• Salt Lake City, UT
• San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
• San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
• Stockton-Lodi, CA
• Tucson, AZ
• Vancouver, WA
• Visalia-Porterville, CA

To find out how much your lift chair will cost you, talk to your doctor. The amount will be much less (or zero) if you have a Medicare Supplement.

Our team here at Medicare Allies can help you weigh your options if you need better Medicare coverage.

Contact Us Today