Medical equipment funding in Ontario

No. Ontario’s Assistive Devices Program does not fund stairlifts, and it never has. For a stairlift the routes worth looking at are the federal Home Accessibility Tax Credit (a tax-time credit for permanent installations, claimed on your tax return), March of Dimes Canada, WSIB where the need follows a workplace injury, and Veterans Affairs. We will tell you which applies before you spend time on an application.

No. Beds are not an ADP category. WSIB, Veterans Affairs, private insurance and the Interim Federal Health Program may apply to a bed depending on eligibility and authorization, and ODSP has no general equipment benefit. We will tell you honestly which one is worth exploring.

Manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, approved mobility scooters, wheelchair seating (cushions and backrests) and eligible wheeled walkers, at up to 75 percent of an approved cost for an eligible applicant. It is a major program for mobility equipment with a narrow eligible-device list, which is exactly why it gets applied to things it does not cover.

For ADP, yes. An ADP-registered authorizer, usually an occupational therapist or a physiotherapist, has to assess and authorize the device. We work with several across the GTA and can put you in touch. For other programs and for private purchases, no authorizer is needed.

It varies by program and by time of year, and no honest supplier will promise you a date. What we can do is submit correctly first time, which is the single biggest factor, and follow up rather than leaving it in a queue. Where waiting is a problem we often rent equipment in the meantime.

You can apply to more than one program, but disclose every other funding source to each program you apply to, and confirm with each whether costs can be coordinated. Never assume two programs will pay the same cost, because some explicitly exclude combining. We will map out what applies in your case.

It depends on the program. ADP pays registered vendors its share directly, so with us you pay only your portion. For WSIB, Veterans Affairs and the IFHP, billing follows the authorization and provider rules, and some programs and private plans reimburse you after purchase. We tell you which model applies before anything is ordered.

Then we will say so. The practical alternatives are renting while circumstances settle, buying a refurbished unit where we have one, or spreading the cost over time. None of those is as good as funding, but all of them are better than a rejected application months later.