Currently lives independently in two story home. Shower is located upstairs and she is unable to get up the stairs due to ambulating with a walker and requires O2.
Does anyone have advice on what to ask when calling insurance? Do I call both or one or the other? Will they pay at all?
Any info would be appreciated.
I honestly don't know if your insurance will cover this. One might cover part and the other will cover the rest, although I can't see you not having to pay for some part of this. My MIL put one of these in and I know she has great health coverage, but the lift was not totally paid for by ins. She has a VERY long one, many stairs--so the cost will be different for short runs of stairs as opposed to long ones.
You never know if you don't ask. And maybe check the policy first. Sometimes these things are simply NOT covered, no matter the need, and sometimes they are covered almost at 100%. Depends on the ins co.
Sometime ago I watched one of the DIY repair programs; a tv contractor redid a stair lift installation which hadn't been properly installed and couldn't safely be used. This is a job for a pro, someone who works for companies that install these.
For oxygen upstairs, you might ask her pulmonary doctor to script for a few portables which can just be left upstairs. Hauling tanks up and down is too dangerous. I haven't experienced any oxygen use since my father passed over 3 years ago, but at that time we had the large E tanks as well as the portables, which were battery operated. Someone could just charge them and keep them upstairs. That would eliminate moving equipment up and down, although I'm guessing she already has these, as there's no way a concentrator could safely be moved upstairs by someone other than a Tarzan type person.
I wouldn't contact the insurance companies directly; they'll probably just tell you that you need to get a script first. What you can do though is read up on the various brands of lifts so you can converse with the contractor and understand everything necessary for safe operation.
I have some bigger concerns though, and that's living alone and going up and down stairs. Do you or someone else stay there when she's ready for a shower?
Is there any way she would be willing to come to your house and shower, w/o going up a flight of stairs? This might unsettle you, but I hope it merely raises the issue of concern for the stairs. One of the neighbors with whom my father grew up had vision problems, used a cane, and in her late 90s, was understandably frail. Her daughter and SIL lived out of state.
One day she fell down the stairs, had no medical alert at that time, and laid on the landing for 4 days before her daughter was able to get someone to check on her, and get help. She survived, but one leg was shorter than the other for the rest of her life; apparently that leg was injured in the fall. That's always plagued me - being alone w/o any resources.
If your GM still wants to shower, get a medical alert pendant she can wear when she goes upstairs and get an exterior key lock box for access by emergency personnel. It would also be wise if a trusted neighbor could stay there during that time, or even if she called a neighbor before and after for safe check-in.
We bought a used Acorn lift from a medical supply store which also installed it. It cost us about $2600 vs. $6,000 for new. (A new one for a curved staircase will run around $10k.)
https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/financial-assistance/stair-lifts-medicare
It may be time for her to downsize from her two story house into a place that is suitable for an elder. Best wishes to you and your grandmother.