Buy or Rent?

This is the question: Should you buy or rent a hospital bed for home? It really depends on your situation, there are benefits to both.

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If you or a loved one have recently undergone a life change that would require the use of an at-home hospital bed, then you may be considering whether it&#;s better to rent or buy a hospital bed. 

Here are a few pros and cons to consider when deciding if you should buy or rent a hospital bed.

Pros of Buying a Hospital Bed

Long-Term Savings

One thing to always consider when choosing a bed is how long you expect the bed will be used for. Long-term rentals work out to be a lot more costly than buying a hospital bed.  The upfront cost of buying the bed can be burdensome, but many hospital bed dealers offer financing such as HomeCare Hospital Beds. 

If you own the hospital bed, you also have the option on selling the hospital bed to recoup some of the upfront costs when you&#;re finished with it.

Customize the right bed to fit your needs

Buying a hospital bed gives you the option to customize the features you need.  Most rental beds are manual beds that utilize a hand crank. Make sure to consider who will be operating the bed, who will be the primary caregiver and what their abilities are too!

Click here to read our Hospital Bed Buying Guide to help you choose the right features!

Quality & Comfort

When you buy a custom hospital bed, you have complete ownership.  You can customize the features or choose additional options such as side rails, inside (white glove) delivery, an extended service warranty, or an advanced mattress and more!  

Cons of Buying a Hospital Bed

Upfront Cost

Even with the affordable options that are available, purchasing a bed usually means you&#;ll have to pay upfront. As a solution, some companies such as HomeCare Hospital Beds offer financing for people who qualify to help with this situation.

You&#;ll also want to consider what you would do if your hospital bed needs repair. There are certain hospital beds that are more suitable for hospitals  because they require more maintenance. Make sure when you&#;re shopping for a hospital bed for home, that you ask what kind of routine maintenance your bed requires! Many beds are designed for home users and require little to no service. You also want to purchase a bed from a reliable source that can assist you with a repair if necessary.

Pros of Renting a Hospital Bed

Short-term Use

Renting a hospital bed for your home is an ideal solution for individuals who don&#;t expect to use a hospital bed for more than a month or two.  If you expect a quick recovery then renting a bed for a short amount of time is usually covered by insurance. 

Stretch the Cost

Another benefit of renting is that you don&#;t have to pay the full cost upfront.  Hospital Beds can be costly and renting can break up the cost into monthly affordable payments. 

Cons of Renting a Hospital Bed

Quality Concerns

Usually hospital beds that are rented are manual, not electric. So it&#;s important to take into consideration who will be the primary caretaker and whether or not they&#;re able to operate a manual bed.

Hospital bed rentals may not always come in the best condition or be the right bed for you.  Rentals have been used by numerous people and as a result there&#;s a possibility of a break down with that additional wear and tear. 

Germ Concerns

Just like when you stay at a hotel, sharing a bed can mean coming into contact with other people&#;s germs. However, when you share a hospital bed, those germs can sometimes be more dangerous pathogens. 

If you or a loved one is immunocompromised, it&#;s even more important to consider whether or not renting is the right decision for you. For example, C. difficile can survive on surfaces for up to 5 months, and can be deadly. MRSA can survive on surfaces for weeks! Always inquire which disinfectant is being used by the bed rental company and ask about their cleaning process! 

Higher Long-Term Costs

Renting can be the less expensive option when a hospital bed is only needed for a short amount of time, but if you&#;re planning on having the bed for a significant period of time, you&#;re likely to spend more money to rent a bed than buying a new hospital bed.  On average it can cost $200 &#; $500 a month to rent a hospital bed for home.  

 Final Thoughts

In the end, buying or renting a hospital bed depends on your specific situation.  Always keep in mind not only the patient&#;s abilities, but the caregiver&#;s as well.  

If you have any questions on which hospital bed is right for you, please contact us so we can help you make the right choice.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit medical beds for sale.

Call us today!   877-414- 

The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content contained on or available through this web site is for general information purposes only. NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE.

To many seniors, home hospital beds offer comfort, convenience, and safety that consumer beds cannot match. The head, foot, and height adjustments simplify the nighttime chores of getting into bed and arranging oneself in a comfortable or medically advised sleeping position.

To other seniors, a home hospital bed is a medical necessity. Without its adjustments and accessories, they would not be able to convalesce or receive treatment in their home. They would have no option but to stay in a hospital or care facility.

In both cases, seniors have to decide how to pay for their home hospital bed. Sophisticated adjustable beds with head, foot, height, and tilt power adjustments are more expensive than consumer-grade beds. The highest-quality beds may not be covered by health insurance and are not covered by Medicare, in which only a limited number of durable medical equipment suppliers participate. The availability of Medicaid for durable medical equipment varies from state to state.

The remaining options are to rent or to buy. Hospital bed suppliers are happy to sell directly to consumers. Hospital bed rental agencies exist across the U.S.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. In this article, we explore the pros and cons of buying and renting home hospital beds. Because funding a home hospital bed with health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid is so complex and variable, we&#;re going to focus purely on self-funded buying or renting in this article.

The Advantages of Buying a Home Hospital Bed

The most significant advantage of buying a home hospital bed is choice. When you buy, you are free to choose a bed that fits your requirements and budget.

You aren&#;t limited by the selection available in a rental agency&#;s catalog. You choose which adjustments the bed has, its design, and the accessories it includes. The best manufacturers customize beds for individual customers, offering even more choice.

Buying may cost less than renting over the long term. A home hospital bed costs several thousand dollars, and the upfront cost of buying is higher. But the upfront cost is all you pay. Renting a bed, in contrast, ties you to a contract with monthly payments that add up quickly. If a bed is rented for more than a few months, the total cost is likely to exceed the cost of buying.

When you buy a custom bed, it is your bed. That might seem obvious, but rental agencies limit how their beds are used and customized. A bed that you own is yours to do with as you please. You aren&#;t beholden to the restrictions and penalties that accompany a rental agreement.

The Disadvantages of Buying

In the previous section, we said that buying is better because it is cheaper over the long-term. That isn&#;t much of an advantage if you can&#;t afford to pay upfront. Renting allows people who need a home hospital bed to spread the cost over the lifetime of the bed, benefiting from features they would otherwise have to do without.

Buying is also less appealing for people who only need the bed for a short time. If a senior who is otherwise healthy needs an adjustable bed while they recover from an operation or injury, short-term rental may be the most economical option.

Buying offers more flexibility when initially deciding which bed you need. But, once you have bought the bed, you are stuck with your choice. For reasons of hygiene and health, bed manufacturers are rarely willing to take back a bed if you change your mind. When you rent, you&#;re free to return or exchange the bed once the initial rental period ends.

The Advantages of Renting a Home Hospital Bed

In addition to spreading the cost, renting is also useful if you want to try a bed before committing to a purchase. If you aren&#;t sure that a home hospital bed is a right choice for you or your loved one, renting gives you the flexibility to change your mind without a substantial financial penalty.

The Disadvantages of Renting

We have already mentioned that renting is less expensive in the short term but more costly in the long term. A rental bed of reasonable quality might cost $400 per month with a set-up fee of $100. An equivalent bed might cost $3,000 to buy. Rental payments exceed the cost of buying in around seven months.

The exact balance depends on the bed and how long it will be in service, but if you&#;re tempted to rent, it&#;s well worth working out how much it&#;s going to cost to rent compared to buying outright or even borrowing to buy.

Another limitation of renting is the quality and range of available beds. Beds are selected by rental agencies to maximize profit and minimize costs such as delivery and maintenance. Consequently, rental beds are rarely as sophisticated or feature-rich as those sold directly to consumers. Rental is unlikely to provide a home hospital bed with the best quality of manufacturing and range of features.

Finally, rented beds are not new beds. Unless you are lucky enough to be the first renter, your bed will have been used before, perhaps by many different patients. Rental agencies clean and disinfect beds before they are sent to a new renter, but the bed&#;s motors and mechanical components have a limited life and may wear out. Beds may also have damaged paint and other age and use related damage.

In Conclusion

The decision to rent or buy depends on your circumstances and what you expect from your home hospital bed. Renting is an excellent option for seniors who need a bed immediately but who can&#;t afford to pay the full price. However, if you can pay upfront, buying gives you access to a greater range of beds with more advanced features and lower long-term costs.

Are you interested in learning more about hospital trolleys? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

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