# How to get a hospital bed for free (3 figures)

> The Medicare DME Coverage and Allowable carries 3 published figures read from 2 sources' own pages, under different breakdowns, so no one range is stated, read 12 September 2026.

Procedure Cost Checker · https://procedurecostchecker.com/datasets/medicare-dme-coverage-and-allowable/ · computed 2026-10-19

**Published figures:** 3 published figures (2 of 7 sources read publish one).

2 of the 7 named sources read in full publish a figure; 5 publish none, read 12 September 2026.

## By rule and rent or purchase

| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| rule Medicare payment share | 80 % | 80 to 80 % | 1 |
| rule beneficiary coinsurance | 20 % | 20 to 20 % | 1 |
| rent or purchase purchase | 20 % | 20 to 20 % | 1 |

## Every figure, with its source

One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read.

| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| [CMS - payment policies for DMEPOS items and services](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-schedules/durable-medical-equipment-prosthetic-devices-prosthetics-orthotics-supplies/payment-policies-dmepos-items-services) | 80 % | Medicare payment share | 2026-09-12 |
| [CMS - payment policies for DMEPOS items and services](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-schedules/durable-medical-equipment-prosthetic-devices-prosthetics-orthotics-supplies/payment-policies-dmepos-items-services) | 20 % | beneficiary coinsurance | 2026-09-12 |
| [Medicare - coverage of DME and other devices (publication 11045)](https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11045-medicare-coverage-of-dme-and-other-devices.pdf) | 20 % | purchase | 2026-09-12 |

## The sentence each figure was read from (3)

- [CMS - payment policies for DMEPOS items and services](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-schedules/durable-medical-equipment-prosthetic-devices-prosthetics-orthotics-supplies/payment-policies-dmepos-items-services), read 2026-09-12: "The Medicare allowed payment amount is equal to 80% of the lower of the supplier’s actual charge for the item or service or the fee schedule amount for the item or service, less any unmet Part B deductible."
- [CMS - payment policies for DMEPOS items and services](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-schedules/durable-medical-equipment-prosthetic-devices-prosthetics-orthotics-supplies/payment-policies-dmepos-items-services), read 2026-09-12: "The Medicare beneficiary is responsible for 20% of the lower of either the actual charge or the fee schedule amount for the item or service, plus any unmet Part B deductible."
- [Medicare - coverage of DME and other devices (publication 11045)](https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11045-medicare-coverage-of-dme-and-other-devices.pdf), read 2026-09-12: "to the cost of replacing the item) for repairs. You pay the other 20%."

## Read in full, publishes no figure

- [CMS - DMEPOS fee schedule](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-schedules/dmepos), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Medicare.gov - durable medical equipment (DME) coverage](https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/durable-medical-equipment-dme-coverage), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Medicare.gov - wheelchairs and scooters coverage](https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/wheelchairs-scooters), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Medicare - coverage of wheelchairs and scooters (publication 11046)](https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11046-medicare-coverage-of-wheelchairs-scooters.pdf), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [NHS England - personal wheelchair budgets, frequently asked questions](https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/personal-health-budgets/personal-wheelchair-budgets/frequently-asked-questions/), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page

## Methodology

Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 2 of the 7 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 5 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 3 figures, never sentences; 7 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per HCPCS code per state per quarter from the DMEPOS fee schedule - the allowed amount, whether the item rents or is bought, the competitive-bidding status - joined to the coverage rule that governs it in Medicare's own words and to the buyer's 20% coinsurance; the derivation is the one figure neither CMS nor any seller publishes: the GAP between the retail price index above and the Medicare allowable for the same class of item, per state, and how that gap has moved across the quarterly fee-schedule releases

## Sources

- [CMS - DMEPOS fee schedule](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-schedules/dmepos) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [CMS - payment policies for DMEPOS items and services](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/fee-schedules/durable-medical-equipment-prosthetic-devices-prosthetics-orthotics-supplies/payment-policies-dmepos-items-services) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Medicare.gov - durable medical equipment (DME) coverage](https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/durable-medical-equipment-dme-coverage) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Medicare.gov - wheelchairs and scooters coverage](https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/wheelchairs-scooters) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Medicare - coverage of wheelchairs and scooters (publication 11046)](https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11046-medicare-coverage-of-wheelchairs-scooters.pdf) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Medicare - coverage of DME and other devices (publication 11045)](https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11045-medicare-coverage-of-dme-and-other-devices.pdf) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [NHS England - personal wheelchair budgets, frequently asked questions](https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/personal-health-budgets/personal-wheelchair-budgets/frequently-asked-questions/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)

## Cite or embed

- The Medicare DME Coverage and Allowable carries 3 published figures read from 2 sources' own pages, under different breakdowns, so no one range is stated, read 12 September 2026.
- 2 of the 7 named sources read in full publish a figure; 5 publish none, read 12 September 2026.
- Medicare DME Coverage and Allowable, rule Medicare payment share: median 80 percent across 1 source, read 12 September 2026.
- Medicare DME Coverage and Allowable, rule beneficiary coinsurance: median 20 percent across 1 source, read 12 September 2026.
- Medicare DME Coverage and Allowable, rent or purchase purchase: median 20 percent across 1 source, read 12 September 2026.

Cite as: "Procedure Cost Checker Medicare DME Coverage and Allowable", updated 2026-10-19, https://procedurecostchecker.com/datasets/medicare-dme-coverage-and-allowable/.

CSV: https://procedurecostchecker.com/datasets/medicare-dme-coverage-and-allowable.csv
JSON: https://procedurecostchecker.com/datasets/medicare-dme-coverage-and-allowable.json
Embed (plain HTML, static link back): see https://procedurecostchecker.com/datasets/medicare-dme-coverage-and-allowable/#median