Low use of durable medical equipment by chronically disabled elderly

Assistive devices are a common effective approach to mitigating the effects of chronic disability. The Medicare Durable Medical Equipment (DME) benefit is intended to provide patients with equipment to meet the challenges of health-related disability; the penetrance of benefit among the disabled is unclear. A nationally representative cohort of 4,687 community-dwelling elderly enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare (part of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey in 1999 and 2000) assessed self-reported disability, and receipt of Medicare DME was assessed through linked claims. Fewer than half the chronically disabled, and less than one-quarter of the newly disabled, received any DME from Medicare. These data suggest underuse of the benefit by the disabled elderly.