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The rules say that plans must pay for a medical service or item if regular Medicare would pay for it in this case. 
You can find this rule at 42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 422.101. 
 
The rules state that equipment which the enrollee owns or is a capped rental item may be replaced in cases of 
loss or irreparable damage. Irreparable damage refers to a specific accident or to a natural disaster (e.g., fire, 
flood). A physician's order and/or new Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN), when required, is needed to 
reaffirm the medical necessity of the item. 
Irreparable wear refers to deterioration sustained from day-to-day usage over time and a specific event cannot 
be identified. Replacement of equipment due to irreparable wear takes into consideration the reasonable useful 
lifetime of the equipment. If the item of equipment has been in continuous use by the enrollee on either a rental 
or purchase basis for the equipment's useful lifetime, the enrollee may elect to obtain a new piece of 
equipment. Replacement may be reimbursed when a new physician order and/or new CMN, when required, is 
needed to reaffirm the medical necessity of the item. 
The reasonable useful lifetime of durable medical equipment is determined through program instructions. In the 
absence of program instructions, A/B MACS (B) may determine the reasonable useful lifetime (RUL) of 
equipment, but in no case can it be less than 5 years. Computation of the useful lifetime is based on when the 
equipment is delivered to the enrollee, not the age of the equipment. Replacement due to wear is not covered 
during the reasonable useful lifetime of the equipment. During the reasonable useful lifetime, Medicare does 
cover repair up to the cost of replacement (but not actual replacement) for medically necessary equipment 
owned by the enrollee. These rules can be found in the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual Chapter 15, Section 
110.2 for Repairs, Maintenance, Replacement, and Delivery. 
 
The rules say that a fixed height hospital bed (E0250, E0251, E0290, E0291, and E0328) is covered if one or 
more of the following criteria (1-4) are met: 
 
   1. The beneficiary has a medical condition which requires positioning of the body in ways not feasible with 
an ordinary bed. Elevation of the head/upper body less than 30 degrees does not usually require the use of a 
hospital bed, or 
    2. The beneficiary requires positioning of the body in ways not feasible with an ordinary bed in order to 
alleviate pain, or 
   3. The beneficiary requires the head of the bed to be elevated more than 30 degrees most of the time due to 
congestive heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease, or problems with aspiration, or 
    4. The beneficiary requires traction equipment, which can only be attached to a hospital bed. 
 
A semi-electric hospital bed (E0260, E0261, E0294, E0295, and E0329) is covered if the beneficiary meets one 
of the criteria for a fixed height bed and requires frequent changes in body position and/or has an immediate 
need for a change in body position. 
 
You can find this information in Medicare's Local Coverage Determination (LCD): Hospital Beds And 
Accessories (L33820). 
 
If you want to read these Medicare rules, you can go to this website www.medicareappeal.com.