Insurance & Funding

AADL in Calgary: renting equipment while you wait

Alberta Aids to Daily Living, usually shortened to AADL, helps eligible Albertans with a long-term disability, chronic illness or terminal illness get basic medical equipment. It works through an assessment by a health professional called an authorizer, and the equipment comes from vendors that hold agreements with the program.

Between the day someone needs a hospital bed or patient lift at home and the day AADL equipment arrives, there is an assessment, an authorization and a delivery to arrange. Many families rent to cover that gap. This guide explains how AADL works, why it won’t pay for the rental, and how to time the handover so you don’t pay for the same equipment twice. Eligibility is decided under AADL’s rules through your authorizer.

Call (825) 445-5851 Book a Rental

Cost-share: 25% of benefit costs, up to $500 per family per benefit year
Who authorizes: An AADL authorizer, such as a registered nurse, OT or physiotherapist
Rentals: AADL does not reimburse rentals for temporary or short-term needs
Around surgery: Pre- and post-operative use is excluded

Bridging the gap to AADL equipment

1
Ask for an assessment
Tell the care team, home care nurse, OT or physiotherapist that you want an AADL assessment. Authorizers determine eligibility, and they can’t charge you for authorizing.
2
Rent for the meantime
If the equipment is needed at home now, rent it privately. Authorizers must tell clients that AADL won’t reimburse rental charges, so plan the rental as your own cost.
3
Pick the AADL vendor
Your authorizer gives you contact details for several vendors. For beds and lifts, AADL supplies equipment from its recycled inventory first.
4
Line up the handover
When the AADL vendor gives you a delivery date, tell us straight away so our collection can be planned around the AADL setup.

What AADL is and who runs it

AADL funds basic medical equipment and supplies based on clinically assessed need. The Government of Alberta lists Primary and Preventative Health Services as its lead ministry, and the program works with Alberta Blue Cross and Alberta Health Services.

The categories it covers include homecare beds and accessories, patient lifters, pressure reduction overlays, transfer aids, walkers, manual and power wheelchairs, bathing and toileting equipment, and respiratory supplies. Lifters, homecare beds and their accessories are recycled benefits: they remain the property of the Government of Alberta rather than becoming the client’s own.

Who qualifies for AADL

The basic eligibility requirements are:

Alberta residence, with a valid Alberta Personal Health Number
A long-term disability or chronic illness lasting six months or longer, or a palliative diagnosis
An assessment and authorization by an AADL authorizer
Other coverage used first: WCB, NIHB, Veterans Affairs Canada for service-related conditions, and private insurance that pays in full all come before AADL

Why AADL won’t pay for a rental

AADL’s program manual for lifters, homecare beds and accessories says a client may rent this kind of equipment from a vendor for temporary or short-term use, but that AADL does not reimburse rental charges for temporary, short-term needs. Short-term uses, including needs before or after surgery, are excluded, and authorizers refer short-term or acute needs to other resources.

AADL also doesn’t reimburse people for equipment they buy themselves. So neither renting nor buying privately creates something you can claim from AADL later. For recovery after a hip or knee replacement, AADL isn’t the route at all; the rental is paid privately or claimed through extended health benefits where a plan allows it.

Renting while AADL does its part

The wait has three pieces, and each takes its own time: getting the assessment done, the authorization, and the vendor supplying and delivering the equipment. There is no official wait-time figure we can point you to, and nobody can give you a reliable date before the authorizer has seen the person who needs the equipment.

A private rental covers that stretch. A full-electric hospital bed can be in place for a discharge from hospital, a battery-powered patient lift can be ready for transfers from the first day home, and a power lift chair can help someone rise from sitting while the paperwork moves. The rental is a monthly private cost, which may be claimable through extended health benefits depending on the plan. We are an independent rental company and aren’t affiliated with AADL.

Tell your authorizer you are renting in the meantime, and what the equipment is
Once authorization is done, ask the AADL vendor for an expected delivery date
Pass that date to us as soon as you have it

Avoiding paying for the same thing twice

Paying twice is mostly a timing problem. If our rental carries on for weeks after the AADL bed is set up, you are paying for two beds. If it ends a few days too early, someone may spend nights in a chair.

Because you rent from us by the month, call as soon as the AADL vendor confirms a date, and tell us which room the AADL equipment is going into. We’ll plan the collection around that delivery so the changeover is short. AADL won’t reimburse any of the rental, so each month you no longer need is worth ending.

What to have ready for AADL and the rental

The Alberta Personal Health Number of the person who needs the equipment
The name and contact details of the authorizer: nurse, OT or physiotherapist
Taxable income from line 26000, if you may qualify for the cost-share exemption
The list of vendors the authorizer gives you, and a note of the one you chose
The expected AADL delivery date, once the vendor confirms it
Our itemized monthly receipts, if you plan to claim the rental through extended health benefits

Questions people ask us

Will AADL pay for a hospital bed rental after surgery?

No. AADL excludes short-term use such as pre- or post-operative needs, and it doesn’t reimburse rental charges for temporary needs. After surgery, a rental is paid privately or claimed through extended health benefits where the plan allows.

Can AADL pay me back for the rental while I wait?

Plan on no. AADL doesn’t reimburse rental charges for temporary or short-term needs, and authorizers are required to tell clients that AADL won’t reimburse a rental they choose. Treat the bridging rental as a private cost.

How long does AADL take?

There is no official figure to quote, and it varies with the assessment, the authorization and vendor supply. Ask your authorizer and the vendor for their expected timing, and keep the rental going month by month until the equipment is in place.

Who can do the AADL assessment for a bed or lift?

An AADL authorizer. For hospital beds, lifts and slings, registered nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists are among those who can authorize, and they can’t charge you for the authorization.

Does the $500 maximum apply per person?

It applies per family, per benefit year from July 1 to June 30. Upgrades you choose don’t count toward it, and households under the income thresholds can be exempt.

Is your company an AADL vendor?

We rent equipment privately and aren’t affiliated with AADL. Your authorizer will give you contact details for the vendors that supply AADL equipment.

Need equipment before AADL comes through?

Tell us what the care team has recommended and when it needs to be at home. We’ll deliver and set it up, then plan collection around the AADL delivery date once you have it.

(825) 445-5851 Book a Rental Online