Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies are the sources to approach with a claim for medical necessity. It is important to contact each of them ahead of time to determine their definitions and requirements for medical necessity. When a school purchases equipment, it is owned by the school not the user. This may mean that the student will have to leave the equipment at school after school hours, during the summer or permanently, if the child were to move or graduate. Private insurance comes in several forms and is still largely unregulated when it comes to assistive technology.
Insurance policies are often silent about what technologies and services they cover.
Medicare is available to people over age 65 and people with disabilities under age 65 who have been entitled to receive Social Security disability benefits. While Medicare may provide coverage for some assistive technology devices, the scope of coverage is limited. Denial of your request for medical assistance is not an end point. Your most important tool in an appeal will be your records. Make sure you keep copies of all correspondence and records of phone conversations.