Where can I rent or buy a hospital bed if Medicare won't cover it?

A hospital bed can really make a huge difference in comfort level for patient and ease of care for caregiver. Is his doctor willing to approve an order?

If/when Hubby goes on Hospice they can get one delivered the same day. If he is not ready for that yet, though, don't wait.

Do you have Goodwill services in your area? They may provide a bed on a rental or loan basis.

I've seen them listed on Craig's List.

Definitely check goodwill/thrifts stores/Craigs list etc. Also a note to local houses of worship, posts on community bulletin boards, may bring in some offers. So far I have been in the business of getting rid of medical supplies. Those of us with this stuff can never seem to get rid of it while we know others are in need of the items. Such a shame. Perhaps the office of the aging in your area may have some leads. And you might ask at the rehab place as well. Permanent residents who pass leave all of this behind. BUT my question to you is, 'why is medicare denying this item"? Speak with the social services and discharge person at rehab , this seems unusual that Medicare wouldn't pay for this.

Thank you all for your answers. After talking with my family, friends, medical people, etc., I think the best thing to do is look for an assisted living facility. With the home help expense I would need, it might be a better idea for the 24 hour care he could get in a facility. I'm applying for Medicaid for the future NH permanent placement which I'm sure is in the near future. I'll be on the phone again tomorrow and hope to have some definite answers.

I agree with geewiz above. It seems that you should have no problem arranging a hospital bed for your husband. First of all it seems that your husband's doctor should be ordering further home medical care through a home health care services company. Initially a registered nurse, specifically a psychiatric nurse, will come to your home and do an evaluation. I could see the necessity of a physical therapist and an occupational therapist visiting your home, mostly to be of assistance to you, by helping you prepare for the tasks/problems you will face every waking moment of every day; and this begins from the minute your husband is left in and under your care upon discharge. Your number one problem is not the hospital bed, it is how you will care for yourself and your husband under the most demanding of circumstances. . Frankly I am absolutely amazed, no shocked is more accurate, that you have not received direct communication from a nurse practitioner at the rehab facility that is discharging your husband into your direct care, or from your husband's primary care doctor's office, or the PCP himself, @memories41, contacting you and expressing real concern that you alone will be providing the home care that your husband needs. it is difficult for me to see HOW you alone will be able to provide the constant care, the constant attention, that will be demanded of you for the most basic of your husband's needs, the so-called Activities of Daily Living o ADL, as he is in this late stage of ALZ. At minimum the director of the rehab facility should have arranged to have a home health care services agency contact you so that their services begin on the first day following your husband's discharge. Transferring your husband from his wheel chair, wit the additional liability of his broken hip, to a bed will be very nearly impossible for you to accomplish on your own. I presume your husband may be incontinent; this is another incredible hurdle for you. I don't know how or if your husband was able to understand the limitations created by his broken hip; (I broke my hip at age 59; I could not put any weight on that foot/leg for six weeks. At the time I broke my hip my husband could not take care of me because he was unable to walk and in fact was waiting for a hip replacement that was to be done in Belgium due to its low cost, a necessity because he did not have insurance and the Mayo Clinic whose fault it was that he needed a hip replacement demanded $45,000 up front. We were relatively young in the scheme of things (not yet of Medicare age) and had to hire at least one person to help me get around, and to cook for us. It was a terrible time for us, and I am so fearful you are looking at a situation as bad and probably worse for yourself and your husband right now. You have to become your own advocate and you must speak up, speak up loudly and often and directly to each and every one of the medical personnel who cross paths with you and with those you can access by phone and through the Council on Aging, your local Social Security office (they handle Medicare and Medicaid also) and your state's Elder Affairs office. Others who if not by rights then by common decency should be looking out for your well-being should be the office staff of the surgeon who performed the surgery, any hospitalist who took over control of your husband's care while in hospital following surgery, the social worker at that hospital and most decidedly, the discharge service coordinator at the rehab facility who left to her own devices would send you home fending for yourself at a time when your main focus should be on your husband's health and recovery. It is these people whose very job is to address your special needs, as in ascertaining the need and requirement for a hospital bed at home and prior to your husband's discharge, that make a mockery of our American health care delivery system, and are often those who complain the loudest about the changes being forced upon the system by the ACA . I have been through this with my mother-in-law and my mother; much worse I need the fingers of both hands to count the number of people I knew and people whom I loved, who died too early and even unnecessarily due to sloppiness of work and the errors of people of responsibility in this health care "industry" of ours. I will pray for you and for your husband. Please remain strong and be vigilant.

He could go from hospital to rehab, a brief stay in a nursing home, which is arranged with the discharge planner at the hospital. Take it one step at a time. Find out what your insurance will cover. I did two weeks in rehab, and my insurance copay was only $150.