[Margie]

HI

Can someone educate me on How Capped rental situation works with a semi-electric hospital bed?... my mother had been renting one through Medicare..starting in 2008.... IN 2009 she rec'd letter stating ownership of bed would transfer to patient after Medicare paid 13 months rental. (this, of course had occurred)...The letter mentions Medicare may pay reasonable and necessary charges for maintenance and servicing of beneficiary owned equipment. As far as I remember, there was NOT a once a year servicing agreement set up or signed... just an info letter of their rates. Is this the correct procedure?

THANKS FOR ANY INFO

[HEATHER]

Once you own it, any medicare supplier can perform repairs/maintenance. Labor/parts are usually only free while the equipment is a rental. After you own it some parts may be covered by the manufacturer's warranty but the manufacturer is not responsible for labor. It is not unusual for the patient to pay privately for labor and any non-warranty parts. If a prescription can be obtained, these items (including the labor) can then be billed unassigned to medicare. You would typically receive only a partial reimbursement (especially on labor - medicare allows less for labor than what is normally charged by the supplier). Also, most parts are billed under a misc. code - so there is no set reimbursement amount. But the supplier is not required to provide these services for free after the 13 months.

[Margie]

Thank you.