Post
by SewTired » Wed Dec 13, 2017 4:02 pm
It's geared towards professionals in the medical field, not recipients.
The big thing to find out before getting a DME item is what are the rules? For instance, if you were getting a walker through Medicare, did you know that you won't qualify for a wheelchair for 5 years? You'd have to pay for it out of pocket. So, unless you KNOW you likely won't need that wheelchair, get that walker at Walmart for $120 because good quality wheelchairs are $500-900 depending on your size and needs (and electric wheelchairs are $1,500-4,000). If you do get a DME item, be sure to have some reminder somewhere to get all repairs before that 5 years is up. My brother just missed getting the wheels replaced on his Cadillac walker by 2 months. Now he has to pay $60 to get just 2 of them replaced. I didn't even know there was a 5 year warranty by Medicare or I could have brought it in any time in the prior year.
For CPAP bought through Medicare, repairs are covered for 5 years, but they do not cover the repairs if you dropped it on the floor. So, if you DID drop it on the floor, just say it stopped working (yes, brother opened his mouth and got socked with $800 repair on his first bipap). Water damage may or may not be covered, I'm unsure on that. Replacements of cpap after 5 years seems to vary by DME due to the new requirements according to posts here. However, if your machine is at least 15,000 hours run time, then it qualifies for replacement.
Diabetes 2, RLS & bradycardia
Airsense For Her; Settings: range 8-12, Airfit P10 (M)