What You Might Not Know About Hospital Bed Rental

Using an ordinary bed can be a challenge. If you’re heading into your twilight years or recovering from a serious injury or illness, climbing in and out of bed can be a challenge. But it doesn’t have to be. A hospital bed offers tons of extra features that can make your everyday life easier. You can outright buy a bed, but if you’re looking to save some cash, you could rent a hospital bed as well. Here’s everything you need to know about hospital bed rental.

Should You Get a Hospital Bed?

So what exactly does a hospital bed do? Hospital beds are different from normal beds because they have height-adjustable heads and feet. This means that instead of being stuck at a single height, they can be raised and lowered as the user wants them. They’ll also have rails on the sides of the bed. That way, the person in the bed can’t roll to one side and fall out. They make sure disabled, infirm and elderly people can get a good night’s rest. When falls while getting out of bed injure more than 645,000 people every year, it’s clear that a bed like this can transform your life. If you’re bedridden, hospital beds can also help your mental health as well. Being able to raise and lower your bed when you want to will let you sit up without needing the strength to sit up, meaning you can do much more from bed than you might have otherwise.

Hospital Bed Rentals vs Purchase

So now you know the basics of what a hospital bed can do for you. If you think it’ll improve your quality of life, the next step is to decide how to get hold of one. If your insurance covers some of the purchase and you can get advice from your doctor on what kind of hospital bed to get, you could buy one. But hospital bed rental is also a great option. The key thing for this decision is to know how long you’ll need the hospital bed. If you think you’ll need the bed for months or years, the cost of renting could quickly outstrip the cost of just buying the equipment outright. However, if it’s just for a short time while recovering from an injury or illness, it may be more efficient in terms of cost to rent the bed.

Hygienic Concerns

Renting versus buying also has other concerns attached to it as well. Beds, to put it bluntly, can be unhygienic items of furniture. There’s a reason hotels and bed and breakfasts have to be so strict on washing sheets and bedclothes after every guest has left. This is especially true when it comes to hospital beds. Since hospital beds have housed sick people, especially for long periods of time, germs can live on in them in a way that wouldn’t happen with an ordinary bed. If you’re ill or injured for a long period of time, you’re going to need to be especially careful about this. 

Quality

Renting adjustable beds can also have a host of challenges in terms of finding quality hospital beds. Used hospital beds will have likely seen some wear and tear. This is especially true for electric beds, which may have broken remotes, stuck parts and wires that need replacing. In some cases, a rental company may pay for these repairs. If your hospital bed is going to need repairs, it pays to be prepared. As this will mean the hospital bed is out of commission for quite a while, you or the person who needs the bed won’t be able to use it until it’s fully repaired. If you choose to rent a hospital bed, make sure you check the bed in question thoroughly before committing.

Hospital Bed Rental Cost vs Buying

Of course, the biggest question when it comes to getting a hospital bed is how much it will cost. Naturally, this depends on your area as well as what kind of hospital bed you will need. But on average, hospital bed rental will cost you between two hundred and five hundred dollars a month. Buying a hospital bed outright will cost you between five hundred dollars and ten thousand dollars, depending on what kind of hospital bed model you’re looking for. While the cost of buying is more of an upfront financial punch, renting a hospital bed could end up costing more, depending on how long you need it for. You could even sell the hospital bed after you’re finished with it to recoup some of the costs.

Look at Insurance

Your concerns about costs, however, will always depend on what your health insurance will provide. Take a close look at your insurance policy. What exactly do they cover in terms of home hospital bed? If you’re unsure from reading your policy yourself, your insurance provider can give you more advice. Medicare plans, in general, will cover eighty percent of the cost of buying a hospital bed. They can also cover some of the cost of renting a bed, and under their policy, after thirteen months of renting a hospital bed, you’ll fully own it. Hidden benefits like these are worth paying attention to in your insurance policy. 

When you or a loved one gets seriously ill, it brings a whole host of new challenges into your life. Don’t let taking care of them or yourself be one of them. If you do your homework, hospital beds for home that you rent rather than buy can be a game-changer in terms of affordable, accessible healthcare. Research your needs closely, research everything your health insurance can do for you and research the exact state of the hospital bed you have your eye on. Find hospital bed rental in your area now, and make your life or your family member’s life so much easier and more comfortable. 

References

1. “Hospital beds”, Medicare, accessed 30th April 2021, https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/hospital-beds.
2. “Buying Vs. Renting A Hospital Bed For Home”, Homecare Hospital Beds, accessed 30th April 2021, https://homecarehospitalbeds.com/buy-or-rent-a-hospital-bed-for-home/.
3. “Hospital Bed Rentals: 10 Key Facts You Need to Know”, Hospital Bed Rental Inc, accessed 30th April 2021, https://hospitalbedrent.com/hospital-bed-rentals-10-key-facts-you-need-to-know/.
4. “Top 5 Things to Know Before Renting a Hospital Bed”, MedPlus Health, accessed 30th April 2021, https://www.medplushealth.ca/blog/top-5-things-to-know-before-renting-a-hospital-bed/.