DME Repairs and Maintenance

At some point, your DME supplier will need to provide DME Repairs & Maintenance for your durable medical equipment.

Repair : Equipment that is worn out or broken can be fixed by a DME supplier.

Maintenance : simple act of giving the patient’s DME a cleaning, inspection, and service.

Patients are expected to use the owner’s manual to perform routine maintenance on their own, if at all possible. Nevertheless, if the work is more difficult and calls for a specialist, DME suppliers are supposed to handle the maintenance.

It is important for providers to understand that Medicare’s payment for more specialized DME maintenance and repairs is contingent upon whether the equipment is owned by the patient or the provider.

Hiring DME

As long as patients are leasing their equipment and paying a monthly cost. When a professional is needed, DME suppliers are responsible for performing all necessary DME Repairs and Maintenance. For this work, the patients do not have to pay a DME supplier.

Patient-Owned or Purchased DME

When a patient buys or owns their equipment, Medicare pays for necessary upkeep and repairs anytime a professional is called in. There is no warranty on the services.

Medicare pays 80% of the Medicare-approved price if a patient needs equipment and uses a DME supplier that accepts Medicare assignment. Patients are required to pay a coinsurance of 20% for this care.

Guidelines for Renting, Repairing, and Maintaining Oxygen Equipment

Medicare’s rental, maintenance, and repair policies for oxygen equipment differ from their standard policies for other durable medical equipment. In order to save costs, providers must make sure that patients are working with the appropriate type of supplier.

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Renting Oxygen Equipment

Since the oxygen equipment is rented for five years, the patients never have the choice to purchase it.

Medicare reimbursement for Oxygen equipment:

Medicare will reimburse the supplier of oxygen equipment for a monthly rental cost for the first three years of the equipment. This cost will cover maintenance, oxygen, supplies, and all equipment. Patients are required to pay twenty percent of the rental costs each month.

Although the provider still owns the equipment, the patient is not required to pay any leasing fees to the provider after three years. The equipment may be retained by the patient for a maximum of two years. If the patient uses an oxygen tank or cylinders over this prolonged period, they must pay a 20% coinsurance.

Patients will have the option to transfer to a DME supplier or to purchase new oxygen equipment from their current source after a five-year term.

DME Oxygen Equipment Repair and Maintenance

The oxygen equipment must be kept in operational condition by the supplier for the duration of the patient’s five-year rental agreement.

The supplier shall give the patient free supplies and maintenance for the first three years of the rental duration.

Providers may charge patients for in-home maintenance visits every six months during the final two years of the rental period, with a 20% coinsurance requirement for their patients. To learn more about the guidelines for maintaining and repairing oxygen equipment, go here.

Make sure you abide by the coverage guidelines of your patient’s Medicare Advantage Plan if they have one.

Are you curious about the DME Repairs and Maintenance coverage provided by Medicare? or to be aware of DME vendors nearby? Make contact with our DME billing