Stairs can become a problematic area in a home to navigate if you’ve suffered an injury that affects you physically or as you get older. If you suffer from limited mobility, a home stairlift will offer you many benefits. Stairlifts are an option for you to remain in your home if these conditions exist and prevent you from having to downsize or move. Stairlifts are necessary if a person is deemed physically unable to perform climbing stairs due to medical conditions, but does Medicaid cover home stairlifts?
A Stairlift’s most obvious benefit is that they allow you to move around your home more safely. If you are physically prevented from climbing your staircase, a stairlift will allow you to safely reach your home’s upper level.
Will Medicaid Cover my Home Stairlift?
Policies for Medicaid are different in each state, so it is not possible to make one general statement about the plan’s coverage and how each state will handle stairlifts. The programs within the Medicaid program are multiple, so coverage under all these plans is complicated to define with a simple answer. When you look specifically at coverages for the disabled or elderly still living in their home, it should narrow the answers down.
If the stairlifts allow a disabled or older person to remain living in their home, Medicaid will likely cover the cost of the stairlift. If they are looking at being placed in a nursing care facility, the chances are even higher the cost of stairlifts will be covered under your benefits.
How Do Stairlifts Qualify Under Medicaid Benefits?
If your state pays for stairlifts, the benefit will be applied for under your state’s HCBS (Home and Community Based Services.) Under the program, waivers are used for Medicaid non-entitlement programs. These programs assist individuals who need a nursing home level of care if they are to remain living in their house.
The Medicaid waivers will allow for home modifications. These modifications can include the installation and purchase of stairlifts. Under these waiver provisions, stairlifts would be a paid benefit for you.
There are other options for you to qualify for Medicaid to cover your stairlift. A State Plan Medicaid is much like the regular Medicaid program. Monthly Medicaid is called an entitlement with more restrictive criteria than those under the waivers. Under the monthly Medicaid Benefit Plan, DME (durable medical equipment) is covered in most states.
Durable medical equipment would cover mobility enhancing equipment such as stairlifts. Under this plan, only the most basic model would be paid for, and there would be a cap on the amount of assistance you would receive. To note, you may not get full reimbursement or payment for stairlifts under this program.
Veterans and Stairlifts
The VA (Veterans Administration) is more likely to cover stairlifts. If you are a veteran and are wheelchair-bound, or cannot manage the climb of stairways due to an injury suffered during your service, a stairlift can be paid for through the VA healthcare system.
Options are also available to elderly veterans, as well as their spouses. If you served in the armed forces and have now become unable to manage stairways due to your age or reasons not related to your military service, you can qualify under the VA Aid and Attendance benefit for stairlifts.
There are other VD-HCBS (Veterans Directed Home and Community Based Services) programs that can help veterans who are facing having to move to a nursing home facility. These programs will allow assistance for them to remain in their homes. If you qualify under these programs, it will be determined by you if you felt a stairlift would allow you to live in your home safely.
State-Based Programs Covering Stairlifts
More than half the states in this country have non-Medicaid assistance programs. These programs help the elderly stay in their homes. Not all of the programs, however, will cover or pay for stairlifts. Eligibility requirements will differ within each state; what is looked at by each is your income, your financial assets, and your physical needs. You will need to speak with the agency in your state to determine if they cover your stairlifts costs.
Pennsylvania Stair Lifts, INC. proudly serves Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Lehigh & Delaware counties in PA. We also provide our outstanding stairway chair lift services in New Jersey and Delaware. We are not a pharmaceutical company dealing in other medical equipment; we are experts on stairlifts and will sell you only state-of-the-art lifts. We can provide you a safe, comfortable, and reliable stairlift, so you can remain living comfortably in your home.
