A stair lift is a chair used to carry people up and down a staircase. Medicare doesn’t typically cover the purchase or installation of a stair lift, even with a doctor’s order. A lift chair, or a recliner that uses a mechanism to elevate you into a standing position, is partly covered by Medicare. For example, Medicare won’t pay for the fabric and cushions on a lift chair, but it will reimburse you for 80 percent of the motor and the mechanism used to lift you out of the seat.