Does Medicare cover nebulizers?
Medicare Part B covers nebulizers as durable medical equipment, and — unusually for a piece of equipment — also covers the prescribed inhalation medications used in them.
What flips the answer
- Covered when
A doctor prescribes a nebulizer and inhalation medication for a documented respiratory condition such as COPD or asthma.
- Covered when
You need refills of a prescribed nebulizer medication — those are covered under Part B (not Part D) when used with covered DME.
- Not covered when
The nebulizer or medication is used without a doctor's prescription documenting medical necessity.
Nebulizers are covered under Part B's DME benefit when a doctor prescribes one for a respiratory condition like COPD or asthma, documenting why the device is medically necessary.
What surprises people is the medication piece: Part B doesn't just cover the machine, it also covers certain inhalation drugs (like bronchodilator solutions) used with a prescribed nebulizer. That's unusual, since Part B normally excludes most self-administered outpatient drugs — those are usually a Part D matter — but nebulizer medications are billed through Part B specifically because they're administered through covered DME.
As with other DME, the equipment and medications need to come with a doctor's prescription and, in practice, from a supplier that bills Medicare correctly for both the device and the drugs together.
How to actually get it covered
- 1
Get a doctor's prescription documenting the medical necessity of a nebulizer and the inhalation medication for your respiratory condition.
- 2
Get the nebulizer and medications from a Medicare-enrolled DME supplier.
- 3
Confirm the supplier "accepts assignment."
- 4
Expect the Part B deductible, then 20% coinsurance, on both the equipment and the prescribed medications.
- 5
Use the official supplier directory at medicare.gov/medical-equipment-suppliers to find an enrolled supplier.
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