Who Pays for Medical Equipment in BC? | Every Funding Source, Checked
Who pays for medical equipment in BC?
A wheelchair, a hospital bed or a patient lift can cost more than most families have sitting in the bank. There is no single programme that covers everyone, but there are several separate routes — and most people never find out which one applies to them. Start with the situation that matches yours.
- Free equipment loans
- Ministry funding
- ICBC & WorkSafeBC
- Veterans
- Tax credits
Start with the situation, not the equipment
Which of these describes the person who needs the equipment?
First: if you are going through the Ministry, the request must be approved before you buy. A receipt from a purchase you already made is generally worth nothing to them. Second: there is a free short-term equipment loan programme in BC that almost nobody outside the health system knows about — and for a temporary need it is often the right answer, ahead of both buying and renting. It is the next section down.
Free short-term loans — the Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross runs a Health Equipment Loan Program across British Columbia that lends equipment on a donation basis. Not rented. Lent, with a donation invited rather than a price charged.
The basic short-term programme covers the everyday items — wheelchairs, walkers, bath seats and benches, commodes and raised toilet seats, crutches, canes and bed handles. A separate advanced programme in BC handles the heavier equipment: hospital beds, specialty mattresses and patient lifts, with delivery and technician installation in some areas.
What you need to access it
- A referral from a regulated health professional — this is the part that surprises people, you cannot simply walk in
- That referral can come through a health authority, or from a community provider such as your family doctor or physiotherapist
- If someone is being discharged from hospital, ask the discharge planner or social worker directly — they do this routinely
Where it falls short
- It is short term. For a permanent need you will eventually be buying or renting.
- Stock is what has been donated and returned, so there can be waiting lists and you take what fits, not what you would have chosen.
- Sizing matters more than people expect on wheelchairs and beds. A chair that is too wide is unsafe, not just uncomfortable.
- Delivery and setup are not available everywhere.
We sell and rent this equipment for a living, so it is fair to ask why we are pointing you at a free alternative. Because for a six-week recovery from a broken hip, a borrowed commode is the right answer, and telling you otherwise would be a poor way to earn your trust for the time you do need to buy something.
Ministry funding — income assistance and the PWD designation
The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction is the main provincial route. It provides medical equipment and devices to people receiving income assistance or disability assistance who are eligible for general health supplements. This is the programme people mean when they talk about "government funding" for a wheelchair.
Four conditions have to be met, and all four matter:
The four requirements
- Pre-approved by the Ministry before you buy
- No other resources available to the family to obtain it
- The least expensive appropriate item for the need
- Prescribed by a physician or nurse practitioner, with the medical need confirmed — often by an occupational or physical therapist
The route most people miss
There is a separate stream for people who are not on assistance at all. Where someone faces a direct and imminent life-threatening health need, has no other resources, and the family unit's annual adjusted net income is at or below the threshold the Ministry sets for this stream, equipment can be provided even with no assistance file open.
The bar is genuinely high and most enquiries do not clear it. But if the household income is modest and the need is urgent and serious, it is worth asking about by name rather than assuming the door is shut.
When someone else's insurer is responsible
These two are the most straightforward routes, and the most frequently forgotten.
Injured in a motor vehicle crash — ICBC
If the injury came from a crash, equipment needed for recovery is normally handled through the ICBC claim rather than out of pocket. Speak to the claim adjuster or recovery specialist assigned to the file before you buy anything, and get their position in writing.
Ask specifically whether they want the equipment supplied through a particular vendor, because some claims are handled that way and buying independently can complicate reimbursement.
Injured at work — WorkSafeBC
An accepted WorkSafeBC claim covers the equipment needed for recovery and for returning home, on the same principle. It runs through the case manager on the claim.
This applies to occupational disease too, not just a single accident — which is worth knowing for long-serving trades workers whose mobility problems developed over years rather than in one moment.
The pattern is the same across ICBC, WorkSafeBC, the Ministry and most extended health plans: get the approval, then buy. Families routinely spend thousands in the first panicked week after an injury and then discover that the money was recoverable only if they had asked first. If the need is immediate and the approval is not, rent for the gap.
Veterans and RCMP members
Veterans Affairs Canada funds equipment through its Treatment Benefits Program, split across what it calls Programs of Choice. Aids for daily living covers walkers, canes, bathroom aids such as grab bars and raised toilet seats, and self-help aids for dressing and food preparation. A separate equipment programme covers wheelchairs, lifts and other special equipment, and can extend to home adaptations such as ramps and door widening where they are needed to use the equipment.
Three practical points. Items generally need to be prescribed by a VAC-approved health professional and authorised in advance. VAC works from a simplest-and-least-costly-first principle, in the same way the Ministry does — a power wheelchair is approved when a walker will not do the job, not instead of one. And repairs and maintenance on approved equipment are usually covered, which over the life of a power chair is not a small thing.
If the equipment is not connected to the condition your disability benefit was granted for, you may be directed to provincial funding first, with VAC covering what the provincial route does not.
Extended health plans, and First Nations benefits
Extended health and group plans
Durable medical equipment is covered by more plans than people assume, including plans people are still carrying from a former employer or through a spouse. It is worth ten minutes on the phone before you conclude there is nothing.
Four questions to ask: does the plan cover durable medical equipment, is pre-authorisation required, what is the annual maximum, and are there sub-limits by category. Get the answer in writing — you will need it if you also apply to the Ministry, which wants confirmation of what other plans will and will not pay.
First Nations health benefits
In British Columbia, health benefits for First Nations people are administered by the First Nations Health Authority, and medical equipment and supplies are part of that coverage.
Eligibility rules, the list of covered items and whether prior approval is needed all vary by item, so contact the FNHA benefits line directly rather than relying on general information. We can provide whatever quote or documentation they ask for.
Money back through the tax system
This one applies to almost everybody and is the most commonly missed, because it arrives months later rather than at the till.
The Medical Expense Tax Credit. Medical equipment is generally an eligible expense, and so are rental charges, maintenance and repairs on it. The credit applies to eligible expenses above a threshold — three per cent of net income or a set annual amount, whichever is lower — and it is a non-refundable credit, so it reduces tax owing rather than producing a cheque. Two details worth knowing: some items need a prescription to qualify and others do not, and any prescription needs to be dated before the purchase. You can also choose the twelve-month period your claim covers, which lets a family group several purchases into one claim to clear the threshold once.
The Disability Tax Credit is a separate thing entirely — an ongoing credit for people with a prolonged impairment, certified by a medical practitioner. It does not pay for equipment, but it is often relevant to the same families, and eligibility for it unlocks other federal and provincial programmes.
Sales tax. Many medical supplies and mobility items are exempt from BC provincial sales tax, and some are exempt from GST as well. The rules are item by item rather than blanket, and a few exemptions depend on having a prescription — hospital-style beds being the clearest example. Ask before you pay rather than after: on a bed or a power chair the tax is a meaningful sum, and getting the prescription first is free.
We deal with these exemptions daily and will tell you plainly whether the item you are looking at qualifies, and what documentation you need to have in hand at the time of purchase for it to apply. We will also itemise the invoice so it is usable for a tax claim later.
If none of the above applies
The honest answer for the majority of families, and what to do about it.
Ask about a loan first anyway
Even without funding eligibility, the Red Cross loan programme runs on a health professional referral rather than an income test. Ask your GP or physiotherapist whether they can make one.
Rent if the need is temporary
Six to eight weeks after surgery does not justify buying a hospital bed. Past roughly six months of continuous use, buying usually costs less than continuing to rent — that is the crossover point to think about.
Spread the cost
We offer 0% in-house financing over 3, 6 or 12 months with a 10% deposit and no credit check. It is not funding — you pay the full price — but it turns one impossible number into a manageable one.
Condition-specific charities are also worth approaching where they fit: Muscular Dystrophy Canada, the Neil Squire Society and the Kinsmen Foundation of BC all provide equipment support in some circumstances, and community service clubs will sometimes help an individual family locally.
Common questions
The ones we are asked at the counter most often.
Does MSP pay for a wheelchair or a hospital bed?
Generally no. The Medical Services Plan covers physician and hospital services, not home medical equipment — which is why so many families are caught out. Equipment funding comes from the routes on this page instead. We have written about this in more detail in does MSP cover medical equipment in BC.
Can we borrow equipment for free in British Columbia?
Yes, short term. The Canadian Red Cross Health Equipment Loan Program lends wheelchairs, walkers, commodes, bath aids, canes and crutches on a donation basis, with a separate advanced programme covering hospital beds, specialty mattresses and patient lifts. You need a referral from a regulated health professional — a family doctor or physiotherapist can usually make one, and a hospital discharge planner does it routinely.
Can I combine two sources of funding?
Often yes, and sometimes you are required to. The Ministry expects other available resources to be applied first, so an extended health plan paying part of the cost is not a problem — it is the expected sequence. Where funding covers a basic model, you can sometimes pay the difference yourself for an upgrade. Ask each funder how they treat the other before you assume.
Is there funding for a lift chair?
This is the hardest category. Programmes fund what is medically essential, and a lift chair is easily classified as comfort furniture with a motor in it. What changes the answer is documented difficulty with transfers — a therapist assessment stating that the person cannot safely rise from a standard chair unaided, and what happens when they try. Extended health plans and Veterans Affairs are more likely routes here than the Ministry.
My father was in a car accident. Do I use ICBC or the Ministry?
ICBC, through the claim. Where an injury has an identifiable insurer behind it, that insurer is the route, and the Ministry expects other resources to be used first in any case. Speak to the adjuster before buying anything.
Do I pay PST and GST on medical equipment in BC?
Not always. Many medical supplies and mobility items are PST-exempt in BC and some are also GST-exempt, but it is decided item by item and a few exemptions require a prescription — hospital-style beds are the common example. Because the amounts on beds and power chairs are significant, ask us before ordering rather than after, so any prescription can be in place at the time of purchase.
We are not in Surrey. Does any of this change?
The funding programmes are provincial or federal, so the rules are the same wherever you are in BC. What changes is delivery: we cover Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, and the loan programmes have their own service areas that vary by community. Call and we will tell you what reaches you.
Related reading
Applying, costs, and working out what you actually need.
This page is general information about funding sources in British Columbia. It is not financial, legal, tax or medical advice. Must Medical Equipment is not a funding agency and cannot approve, submit or influence any application, and we are not affiliated with the Canadian Red Cross, ICBC, WorkSafeBC, Veterans Affairs Canada, the First Nations Health Authority or the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. Eligibility rules, income thresholds, covered items and tax provisions change — confirm current details directly with the relevant agency, or with an accountant for anything tax-related, before acting on anything here.
Not sure which route is yours?
Tell us the situation and we will point you at the right programme — including when the answer is a free loan rather than anything we sell. We provide itemised quotes for applications free of charge, with no obligation to buy from us.
- Showroom: 12987 80 Ave, Surrey, BC V3W 3B1
- 604-240-2450
- info@mustmedical.ca
- Free itemised quotes for funding applications