Insurance & Funding
Claiming a medical equipment rental through Sun Life in Calgary
If your extended health benefits come through work and the card says Sun Life, a hospital bed, lift chair or mobility scooter rental may be claimable. Whether it is depends on the plan your employer set up, and only Sun Life can confirm that for you.
What Sun Life does tell members is how to approach medical equipment: start with a doctor’s referral, get only what the doctor prescribes, and collect cost estimates before spending. This page turns that advice into a sequence you can follow, from the first conversation with the doctor to the last monthly claim.
- Before you rent
- Get a doctor’s referral for the equipment
- Match the prescription
- Sun Life advises getting only what the doctor prescribes
- Where to claim
- my Sun Life online, the mobile app, or a paper form
- App claims
- Direct deposit has to be set up first
A Sun Life equipment claim, start to finish
- 1
Ask for the referral
At the discharge conversation or the next appointment, ask the physician for a referral that names the equipment, such as a full-electric hospital bed or a battery-powered patient lift.
- 2
Rent what was prescribed
Sun Life tells members to buy only what the doctor prescribes, and the same thinking applies to renting. If you also want a pressure mattress, ask whether it should be named too.
- 3
Collect a cost estimate
Ask us for a written quote showing the item and monthly rate. Then ask Sun Life whether your plan reviews an estimate before you commit to the rental.
- 4
Confirm the plan
Log in to my Sun Life or phone, and ask whether equipment rental is an eligible expense, whether there is a maximum, and how monthly charges count against it.
- 5
Keep each receipt
Once the equipment is delivered, every month brings an itemized receipt from us naming the equipment and the rental period. File each one as it arrives.
- 6
Submit the claim
Claim through my Sun Life or the app, which needs direct deposit. The paper extended health form asks for the original receipt for each expense.
Why the doctor’s referral comes first
Sun Life’s own guidance on medical equipment puts the referral before the purchase, not after it. Getting the referral dated before delivery keeps your paperwork in the same order Sun Life asks for, and it gives the claim a clear starting point.
Hospital discharge is often the easiest moment to ask. The physician is already thinking about what will be needed at home, and a two-minute request then saves chasing an office for a letter once the bed is already in the living room. Ask that the referral names the type of equipment in plain words, because a vague note about “home equipment” invites questions later.
Cost estimates and predetermination
Sun Life recommends that members get cost estimates for medical equipment. Some benefit plans go a step further and review an estimate before you spend, a process usually called predetermination. Whether your plan does that for equipment is a question to put to Sun Life directly, rather than something to assume either way.
A useful estimate for a rental shows the equipment by type and model, the monthly rate, and how long the doctor expects it to be needed. Ask us for one, send it to Sun Life if they want to see it, and where timing allows, wait for their reply before booking delivery.
Claiming a rental that runs month after month
Buying equipment produces one receipt and one claim. Renting produces a receipt every month, which raises questions a purchase never does. Should you claim each month as it comes, or batch them? If your plan has an annual equipment maximum, how is a rental that runs past the end of the plan year counted?
Put both questions to Sun Life early. Submitting each receipt as it arrives has a practical advantage: if something is missing from the first claim, you find out before the third receipt is sitting in the drawer.
Online, in the app, or on paper
my Sun Life online and the Sun Life mobile app both accept extended health claims. App claims require direct deposit, so set that up before the first receipt arrives rather than in the middle of managing someone’s return home.
The paper extended health claim form is still available, and it asks for the original receipt for each expense. If you mail a claim, photograph or copy everything first, because the originals leave your hands.
What Sun Life decides, and what we do
Coverage amounts, whether rentals are eligible at all, and whether costs must be reviewed first all vary by plan. Sun Life’s decision on your claim is the one that stands.
Our part is the equipment and a clean paper trail: a written quote before delivery when you need one, itemized receipts every month after, and help making sense of what a request from Sun Life is asking for. You submit the claim, and any reimbursement is paid to you.
Your Sun Life claim file
- Plan and ID numbers from your Sun Life benefits card
- The doctor’s referral naming the equipment, dated before delivery if possible
- Our written cost estimate, and any reply from Sun Life about it
- An itemized receipt for each month of the rental
- Direct deposit set up in my Sun Life, if you will claim in the app
- Copies of anything you mail with the paper claim form
Questions people ask us
Does Sun Life pay for renting a hospital bed?
What should the doctor’s referral say?
Can I claim a mobility scooter rental in the Sun Life app?
My father comes home from hospital tomorrow. Do I have to wait for Sun Life?
Do you send claims to Sun Life for me?
Should I claim every month or once the rental ends?
Need a quote for Sun Life first?
Tell us what the doctor has prescribed and the date it’s needed. We’ll send a written estimate you can submit, and schedule delivery around the day you come home.