Oh, what a day………

Never give up on moving forward with disabilities!!!!

We received some special news today. Curly has finally been approved for an electric Hoyer lift. For the last 6 ½ years we have used the hydraulic Hoyer lift along with vying for the slide board. Last fall when he was hospitalized twice, I asked if it was possible for Medicare to cover the electric Hoyer lift. From transferring with the slide board, I have hurt my wrist and my ankle from twisting to get him in his chair. Both times the hospital said Medicare would not cover it. (They did pay for my therapy sessions!)

I had a meeting with a gal from Palliative care and even though we did not meet any of her qualifications she said Medicare would cover an electric Hoyer lift. I asked her what I needed to do to get Curly approved. Call your doctor and have him write a prescription and then take that to a Medicare approved DME supplier. Now that sounds simple.

I first checked with Medicare…yes if you get a prescription it will be covered. Curly’s doctor did write the prescription. I started calling the DME companies….” sorry, we do not take Medicare” finally I called Medicare to get a list of approved providers. “Oh, we cannot give that list out. You need to have your doctor’s office call and get it; they need to give the NPI number and some additional information.” The doctor’s office called me back saying they could not get any information from Medicare…now that put me in overdrive!

I pulled up every DME in our area and finally found a participating company in Mesa. Curly and I stopped over there, and the gal took the prescription and said there would be additional information, but she would contact our doctor. We would need to have a face to face with our doctor. OK, we had a virtual office visit and the doctor sent everything over.

It seems the DME did not get all the doctor’s information when I called to ask the status. I felt confused because the doctor said everything had been sent. I suggested to the DME company that we may need to have a conference call, or a zoom meeting with the doctor, myself and the DME company, she said quickly she would try the doctor one more time. Within a day she had all the information and submitted it.

The DME company called today to say Medicare has approved the lift and they will email me the expected day to receive it. All I can say is you need to be persistent. Take on your cause and follow through. After we receive our lift, I may contact the hospital so that they are aware that Medicare will with the right documentation cover an electric Hoyer lift.

Curly and I were so relieved. This means we may be able to get additional caregivers in to help. Without the lift, caregivers are restricted. I have been told he is more than 25 lbs that they limit their staff to lifting.

This means we can remain in our home without the worry of the need for a skilled nursing facility. I can operate it, or another caregiver will be able to do it. Did I mention that this one is somewhat portable, so it is able to go in our van for travel.

Never give up, God is good!