Does Medicare cover oxygen equipment?
Medicare Part B covers oxygen equipment as a durable medical equipment rental for up to 36 months, after which your supplier continues providing service through month 60 as long as your medical need continues.
What flips the answer
- Covered when
Blood-oxygen level testing ordered by your doctor documents a covered lung condition requiring supplemental oxygen at rest, during exercise, or during sleep.
- Covered when
Your ongoing need is periodically re-certified — your supplier then continues servicing the equipment through month 60 without new rental charges.
- Not covered when
The oxygen equipment or supply is needed specifically for air travel — Medicare doesn't cover equipment or oxygen tied to flying.
Oxygen equipment — concentrators, tanks, tubing, and related supplies — is covered under Part B's DME benefit when your doctor documents medical necessity, typically through blood-oxygen level testing showing a covered lung condition.
Coverage runs as a rental, capped at 36 months. After that 36-month rental cap, your supplier is required to continue furnishing oxygen contents and servicing the equipment through the item's five-year (60-month) useful lifetime, without additional rental payments, as long as your medical need continues and is periodically re-documented.
One notable gap: Medicare doesn't pay for oxygen equipment or oxygen related specifically to air travel, and your supplier isn't required to provide an airline-approved portable concentrator — that's a cost you'd cover yourself if you fly.
How to actually get it covered
- 1
Get a face-to-face exam and blood-oxygen level testing ordered by your doctor documenting a covered lung condition.
- 2
Get your oxygen equipment from a Medicare-enrolled DME supplier.
- 3
Confirm the supplier "accepts assignment."
- 4
Expect the Part B deductible, then 20% coinsurance, on the Medicare-approved rental amount during the 36-month cap; the supplier then continues servicing the equipment through month 60 at no additional rental cost if your need continues.
- 5
Use the official supplier directory at medicare.gov/medical-equipment-suppliers to find an enrolled supplier.
That's the general answer. Yours is written in your actual policy.
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