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Deductible The amount you must pay for health care or prescriptions before Original Medicare, your Medicare Advantage Plan, your Medicare drug plan, or your other insurance begins to pay.
Medicare-approved amount The payment amount that Original Medicare sets for a covered service or item. When your provider accepts assignment, Medicare pays its share and you pay your share of that amount.
Assignment An agreement by your doctor, provider, or supplier to be paid directly by Medicare, to accept the payment amount Medicare approves for the service, and not to bill you for any more than the Medicare deductible and coinsurance.
). Medicare pays for different kinds of DME in different ways. Depending on the type of equipment:
You may need to rent the equipment.
You may need to buy the equipment.
You may be able to choose whether to rent or buy the equipment.
Make sure your doctors and DME suppliers are enrolled in Medicare. It’s also important to ask a supplier if they participate in Medicare before you get DME. If suppliers are participating in Medicare, they must accept assignment (which means, they can charge you only the coinsurance and Part B deductible for the Medicare‑approved amount). If suppliers aren’t participating and don’t accept assignment, you may have to pay for the full cost of the DME.
Find out cost
To find out how much your test, item, or service will cost, talk to your doctor or health care provider. The specific amount you’ll owe may depend on several things, like: