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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 in the event of a claim review, information contained directly in the contemporaneous medical record is the source required to justify payment except as noted elsewhere for prescriptions and CMNs. The medical record is not limited to treating physician/practitioner's office records but may include records from hospitals, nursing facilities, home health agencies, other healthcare professionals, etc. (not all-inclusive). Records from suppliers or healthcare professionals with a financial interest in the claim outcome are not considered sufficient by themselves for determining that an item is reasonable and necessary. DMEPOS suppliers are reminded that: Supplier-produced records, even if signed by the prescribing physician/practitioner, and attestation letters (e.g. letters of medical necessity) are deemed not to be part of a medical record for Medicare payment purposes.
"*Templates and forms, including CMS CMNs, are subject to corroboration with information in the medical record. A prescription is not considered to be part of the medical record. Medical information intended to demonstrate compliance with coverage criteria may be included on the prescription but must be corroborated by information contained in the medical record. "In addition to the general requirements discussed above, certain DMEPOS items may have specific documentation requirements. Details regarding these policy specific requirements are contained in the applicable LCD-related Policy Article. You can find this information in Medicare's Local Coverage Article: Standard Documentation Requirements for All Claims Submitted to DME MACs (A55426).
If you want to read these Medicare rules, you can go to this website www.medicareappeal.com.