Are you a parent or guardian of a special needs child considering getting a safety bed for your child, but you are overwhelmed by your options and uncertain of where to start? Please know that you are not alone – the information available online is limited and what you can find can be rather confusing. “Safety beds” is a sort of catchall term which includes a number of different types of specialty beds carefully designed with specific safety features to keep a person with special needs safe, secure, and comfortable while sleeping. While they are vital for many children and families to get a good night’s sleep, they can unfortunately be rather cost prohibitive for many families, and getting insurance to cover one can be a long and complicated process. Insurance coverage for safety beds can unfortunately vary widely based on your insurance provider, the state you live in, the type of bed you need and its corresponding medical codes.

The process to attempt to obtain a safety bed through coverage by Medicaid or private insurance typically looks something like this: First, connect with a durable medical equipment, or DME, supplier which serves your area or region. Since safety beds are usually classified as DME, a DME supplier is a company that specializes in selling or renting these types of medical supplies. Next, get support and statements from your child’s physicians, therapists, and caregivers, and obtain documentation that supports your child’s need for a safety bed. This documentation can range from medical records which show your child’s specific diagnoses and medical needs, to a “prescription” for the bed from your child’s physician, to a letter of medical necessity which explains in detail why insurance should cover a safety bed for your child. Be sure to check your state’s guidelines for specific requirements. It should also be noted that most insurance says coverage will only be provided for one DME item that meets “minimum specifications” of child’s needs, and most require prior approval.

Once you have all the documentation your state and insurance provider requires, you will submit the request to your insurance provider. Sometimes the DME provider will assist you in helping you gather paperwork and submit. Once submitted, be prepared to wait to hear back, sometimes months. Once you do hear back, please note that it is very common for your initial request to be denied and to need to appeal the decision, which can prolong the process further. Some people report having multiple appeals denied, meaning the entire process could take months or even years, which can be an extremely frustrating time for parents and a potentially dangerous time for the child who is without the safety bed they need. If your request is approved by your insurance, there are maximum amounts allowed, meaning insurance will only cover up to a certain cost, leaving you to pay the remainder. It is rather difficult to find specifics on how much insurance may cover since every insurance provider is different. Even Medicaid coverage is hard to pin down, considering things are handled a bit differently in each state, and coverage is determined based on each child’s unique needs, but our research suggests you may expect around a maximum coverage of about $4,000 for a typical safety bed covered by Medicaid, with most private insurances likely covering less. Considering the average cost of most FDA registered safety beds in the US comes in around $6,000, that could leave families with a significant balance to cover, sometimes $2,000 or more.

This all makes the process of obtaining a safety bed for your child sound rather intimidating and downright disheartening, doesn’t it? Keep in mind that you have options. You may prefer to go the insurance route first and see what happens, but you can also look into ordering a safety bed directly from the manufacturer. When pursuing through insurance, you typically have to go through a DME provider. While DME providers can be helpful with submitting paperwork for coverage, when beds are ordered through DME suppliers, the cost can be higher since the DME company acts as a sort of “middle man” in the process and can take up to a 40% commission for the sale. Ordering directly from the safety bed company allows them to sell their beds at a lower cost and ship directly to the consumer. For example, with Safe Place Bedding, LLC, our permanent safety beds are high quality and registered with the FDA just like the other companies, but we prefer to sell our beds directly to you, the parent and consumer. This also allows us to offer payment plans and discounts to our consumers – if you use our offer code Actfast, you can take $2,000 off any of our permanent beds. This would make our basic bed under $2,000, and if you chose payments through Klarna, the payments would only be around $100 a month. (But act quickly – you will have one week to use the code before it expires, and this discount code will not be offered again.) The best part? You can order whenever you are ready, with no waiting around for insurance approval or a lengthy appeals process.

At Safe Place Bedding, LLC, our frames are made one at a time at our local wood shop. Each board is handpicked by our master craftsman to make the best possible frame. All corners are rounded for your child's safety, and padding can be added to our frames for an extra charge. Customers can choose from one of our stock colors or custom design the look of their cover by choosing a pattern or color they prefer. You will also receive an 8" Certipur US certified foam mattress, and all our covers are made out of top quality material. Take a look at our website, www.safeplacebedding.com, for more information and to see examples of our work. We offer permanent safety beds as well as travel beds, and as parents of a special needs child ourselves, we understand the importance of a quality, affordable safety bed. Email us at limitless@safeplacebedding.com, or call or text us at 614-602-5196 for more information. We look forward to hearing from you!