How to Get a Hospital Bed at Home for an Elderly Parent

To get a hospital bed at home, start with a prescription from your parent's doctor or care team for use in the home, then use a supplier enrolled in Medicare. Part B may cover the bed if your parent is eligible. After the deductible, you pay 20% of the approved amount when the supplier accepts assignment.

A hospital bed is often the item that decides whether a parent can sleep comfortably and move safely during recovery. It also helps to decide early who owns the order. This guide gives you the sequence, the costs Medicare publishes, and the safety questions to settle before the bed is set up.

Who decides that your parent needs a hospital bed?

The decision starts with your parent's care team. A doctor or other provider recommends the equipment and writes the order. Medicare says Part B covers medically necessary durable medical equipment (DME) if your provider prescribes it for use in your home (Medicare, Hospital beds).

If your parent is in the hospital, raise the question before discharge day. Medicare's discharge planning checklist tells patients and caregivers to ask whether medical equipment is needed, whether Medicare covers it, and who will arrange delivery (Medicare, Your discharge planning checklist). Ask those three questions in order, write the answers on the paperwork, and name the person who will follow up on delivery. Your parent can then come home to a bed that is ready.

What are the steps to get a hospital bed at home?

1. Get the order. Ask the doctor or discharge planner for a prescription that says the bed is for use at home.
2. Check coverage. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or your parent's plan. Amounts you owe depend on other insurance, how much the doctor charges, whether the supplier accepts assignment, and where you get the item (Medicare, Hospital beds).
3. Choose an enrolled supplier. Medicare only pays for DME from suppliers who are enrolled in Medicare. Ask each one two questions: "Are you enrolled in Medicare?" and "Do you accept assignment?"
4. Ask rent or buy. Medicare says some DME is rented, some is bought, and some can be either. Ask how the bed you need is handled, what the monthly cost is, and who owns it at the end.
5. Confirm delivery and setup. Ask for a delivery date and time window, who sets the bed up, and who shows your parent and the family how to use the controls.
6. Plan for late delivery. Ask what happens if the bed is not there on discharge day, and who at the hospital or supplier you call.

Write each answer on the same page, with a date and a name. A single page like this turns a vague hope that the bed will arrive into a plan you can follow.

What does Medicare pay for a hospital bed?

Medicare Part B may cover hospital beds if your parent is eligible. The bed is classed as durable medical equipment. After the Part B deductible, your parent pays 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, if the supplier accepts assignment (Medicare, Hospital beds; Medicare, DME coverage).

Two details matter for the family budget:

• Assignment. A supplier that participates in Medicare must accept assignment, which means the supplier can charge only the coinsurance and Part B deductible on the Medicare-approved amount. A supplier that does not participate does not have to, though it may choose to.
• Rentals. If the bed is rented, make sure the supplier will accept assignment for every rental month. Otherwise you may have to pay the full cost up front, and Medicare reimburses you later for its share once the claims are processed.

Medicare also says to ask your doctor how much an item will cost and to check what Medicare will actually cover, because a doctor may recommend something Medicare does not cover. If your parent has other coverage, a call to that plan before ordering saves a surprise later. Keep the names and phone numbers you gather in one place, since you may need to call back.

What if Medicare does not cover it, or your parent is not on Medicare?

Start by asking the hospital social worker or discharge planner what options exist, and ask the supplier what the cash price and the rental terms are. For local programs, the Eldercare Locator, a public service of the Administration for Community Living, connects older adults and families with services in their area. You can reach it at 1-800-677-1116 (Eldercare Locator).

Programs and payers differ by state and by plan, so ask each source what it covers, in writing if you can.

Are bed rails safe?

Decide on bed rails deliberately. A clinical guidance document from the Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup, which the FDA formed with healthcare organizations and other partners, says every patient in any care setting deserves a safe and comfortable sleeping and bed environment, and that rails may not be harmless safety devices. It reports that half-rails pose a risk of entrapment, and that full rails pose a risk of entrapment as well as falls when people climb over the rails or footboards (Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup, 2003). The same guidance covers home care settings and lists steps other than rails, such as treating pain and promoting mobility.

That document is from 2003 and is written for clinicians, so use it as a starting point for a conversation. Before the bed is set up, ask a nurse, physical therapist, or the supplier's trained staff:

• Does my parent need rails at all, and if so which kind?
• How should the rails be set up, and how do we check the gaps?
• What do we do about night waking, confusion, or trying to get out of bed?

Agree on the answers with the care team, then check the setup again after the first night. A bed that fits your parent's body, habits, and room is the goal.

How do you get the room ready?

The practical checks are simple, and a few minutes of planning avoids a hard delivery day:

• Clear a path from the door to the bedside, and measure the doorway the bed will pass through.
• Place the bed where your parent can reach the bathroom, a light switch, and a phone.
• Keep a night light on the route to the bathroom.
• Move loose rugs and cords out of the path.

Our guide to home modifications that help an aging parent stay independent covers the rest of the house. For a longer view of the first days at home, see the first 72 hours after hospital discharge, and use the discharge checklist for an elderly parent coming home to track the other tasks.

How VIPCall can help once the bed is ordered

VIPCall helps a family keep track of the handoffs between people. It does not order equipment, and it does not assess whether a bed or rails are safe.

• To-dos. Create a to-do for each step: get the order, call the supplier, confirm the delivery window, check the setup. A to-do can be assigned to a family member or left unassigned until someone takes it.
• Appointments and follow-up. Add the delivery window and the follow-up call to the shared schedule.
• Documents. Upload the doctor's order and the supplier's paperwork and get a short summary with the dates, phone numbers, and medicines picked out (an optional AI filing setting). Check the explanation against the original pages.
• Daily phone call. VIPCall calls your parent on any phone, with no app, so your parent can say how the first nights in the new bed are going, and the family gets a summary after each call.

VIPCall supports family communication and follow-through. It does not assess medical safety, provide hands-on care, or respond to emergencies. See how VIPCall works and compare family plans and pricing. Keep the order, supplier, and delivery questions on one page with VIPCall's printable hospital discharge checklist as you work through the list.

Sources and further reading

• Medicare, Hospital beds
• Medicare, Durable medical equipment (DME) coverage
• Medicare, Your discharge planning checklist
• Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup, Clinical Guidance for the Assessment and Implementation of Bed Rails (2003)
• Eldercare Locator, Administration for Community Living