Mobility Aids & Equipment Hire This service is available in Queensland. Red Cross helps Queenslanders stay mobile by offering affordable and reliable mobility aids and equipment from a variety of locations in Brisbane, Gold Coast and regional Queensland. The Red Cross Mobility Equipment Hire Service offers a range of mobility and personal care equipment for short term hire at very reasonable prices. A wide range of equipment is available for hire including mobility aids, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, bathroom and bedroom aids to assist people in their home environment. Mobility aids and walking equipment available for hire or purchase varies by location and may include: • Bedroom Aids (commode chair, bed table, bed cradle) • Toilet & Bathroom Aids (mobile shower commode, over toilet frame, shower chair) • Walking Aids (Crutches, Walkers, walking sticks) • Wheelchairs (Standard, Paediatric, Bariatric) Mobility Equipment Hire Locations
To discuss the mobility aids and equipment available for hire, contact a friendly representative at your nearest participating Red Cross Queensland location from the list below: Beenleigh Showground's, Gate 3, James Street, Beenleigh, Qld, 4207 Tel: 07 3807 4085 Opening Hours: 9am - 3pm Monday - Friday Logan Hospital, Meadowbrook, Qld, 4131 Tel: 07 3299 9582 Opening Hours 9am - 3pm Monday - Friday 38 Ferry Street, Nerang, Qld, 4211 Tel: 07 5596 6832 Opening Hours 10am - 3pm Monday - Friday Tel: 07 5571 0966 Opening Hours 9.30am - 3.30pm Monday - Friday 38/11th Avenue, Palm Beach, Qld, 4221 Tel: 07 5576 0551 Opening Hours 9.30am - 4pm Monday - Friday Cnr Kessells Road and Troughton Road Coopers Plains, Qld, 4108 Tel: 07 3182 6285 Opening Hours 9:00am - 4pm Monday - Friday Nan Fleming Centre, Portwood Street, Redcliffe, Qld, 4020 Tel: 07 3883 2388 Opening Hours 9am - 1pm Monday - Friday
Jane Street, Gympie, Qld, 4570 Tel: 07 5482 8215 Opening Hours 1pm - 4pm Monday - Friday Wide Bay, Australia House, Cnr Barolin & Woongarra Streets, Bundaberg, Qld, 4670 Tel: 07 4151 3096 1 Canning Street, Rockhampton, Qld, 4700 Tel: 07 4927 3080 Opening Hours 9.30am - 4.30pm Monday - Friday Cnr Flinders & Bayne Street, Gladstone Qld 4680 Opening Hours 10:00- 1:00 Monday to Friday Worthington House, North Street, Dalby Tel: 07 4662 5631 17 Cressbrook Street, Toogoolawah, Qld, 4313 Or for any general enquiries contact Branch & Member Services on 1800 174 047 Phone 07 3807 4085 Phone 07 4151 3096 Phone 07 4662 5631 Phone 07 4972 9387 Phone 07 5482 8215 Phone 07 3299 9582 Phone 07 5596 6832 Phone 07 5576 0551 Phone 07 3883 2388 Phone 07 4927 3080 Phone 07 5571 0966 Phone 07 3275 6285 Phone 07 3883 2388In general, both Medicare and Medicaid cover medical equipment for use at home but don't cover actual physical modifications to the home.
The VA, on the other hand, offers some coverage for both: medical equipment through its medical care program, and home modifications through separate grant programs. Medicare Part B covers a wide variety of what's called "durable medical equipment" for use in a patient's home. Some equipment must be rented, some purchased, and sometimes the patient has a choice. Equipment must be medically necessary and prescribed by a doctor. Covered equipment can include hospital beds, patient lifts, commode chairs, crutches, walkers, both manual and electric wheelchairs and scooters, oxygen equipment, traction equipment, infusion and suction pumps, nebulizers, blood sugar monitors, home dialysis machines, and many other types of equipment. However, Medicare Part B does not cover equipment that's permanently installed in a patient's home, such as a wheelchair ramp, stair lift, special shower stall or walk-in tub, bars, or railings. The types of equipment that Medicare Part B covers -- along with information about whether they're to be rented or purchased with Medicare Part B paying most of the bills -- is described in detail in the official online Medicare booklet called Medicare Coverage of Durable Medical Equipment and Other Devices.
Medicare Part B pays 80 percent of the Medicare-approved amount for the rental or purchase of covered equipment. There are special rules, however, for wheelchairs and scooters. It's important to rent or purchase your equipment from what's called a Medicare "participating supplier," who is prohibited by Medicare rules from charging any more than the Medicare-approved amount for the item. However, a supplier who's enrolled in Medicare but isn't an official "participating supplier" may charge more than the amount that Medicare Part B approves for the equipment. In that case, you'd personally have to pay the difference between the Medicare-approved amount and the amount the supplier actually charges (on top of the 20 percent of the Medicare-approved amount that Medicare Part B doesn't pay). Medicare's official website provides a geographic directory of equipment suppliers to help you find a Medicare-certified supplier near you who has the specific equipment you need. "Participating suppliers" -- the ones who can't charge more than the Medicare-approved amount -- are noted in the directory with a special icon.
Medicare Advantage (Part C) Plans If you have a Medicare Part C Medicare Advantage plan, that plan must cover everything that's included in original Medicare Part B coverage, including durable medical equipment. But sometimes a Medicare Advantage plan covers more, with lower co-payments for medical equipment. To find out whether your plan provides extra coverage or requires different co-payments for medical equipment, contact the plan directly. If you're enrolled in your state's Medicaid program, it will cover the same types of durable medical equipment covered by Medicare Part B. If you have Medicaid but not Medicare, you'll be charged a small co-payment for use of the equipment. If you have both Medicaid and Medicare, Medicaid will pay all of the 20 percent that Medicare doesn't pay, except for a small co-payment. Like Medicare, Medicaid doesn't cover physical modifications to the home. However, some state Medicaid programs have special pilot programs that can help with home modifications.
If you need home modification, check with the Medicaid worker who handles your file and ask if there might be special coverage that can help you. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Like Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program of medical benefits includes coverage of durable medical equipment for use in the home. In addition, the VA has three programs that offer home-modification grants to certain veterans who have severe service-connected disabilities. Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grants. An SAH grant is to help modify a home to make it wheelchair accessible or otherwise "barrier free" for certain veterans whose severe service-connected disabilities make it impossible for them to live independently without such modifications. An SAH grant can be as much as $63,780. Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grants. An SHA grant helps pay to modify a home -- the veteran's or a family member's where the veteran lives -- to meet the needs of certain disabled veterans who need assistance with mobility around the house.