Alberta Aids to Daily Living: what it lists for mattresses, hospital beds and lifts

Who it is for

• Alberta residents with a valid Alberta health card who need help because of a long-term disability, a chronic illness or a terminal illness. Long-term and chronic mean six months or longer.
• They must live at home or in a community setting.
• There is no income requirement.
• A health care professional must assess the person first.

Who it is not for

• A person may not be eligible if they can get comparable benefits from another source, such as workers’ compensation, a federal program or a private insurance plan.
• AADL’s manual says a person whose private health insurance covers the whole cost of a benefit is not eligible for that benefit, and may become eligible once that coverage is used up.
• AADL does not fund overlays, homecare beds or lifters for use in long-term care. Its manuals also exclude some supportive and assisted living sites, so ask the authorizer if the person lives in one.
• AADL does not fund them for short-term needs, such as before or after surgery.

What its documents list

A program listing a kind of equipment does not mean a particular product is funded. AADL decides.

• Mattress overlays

  • Mattress overlay
  • AADL’s product list for overlays (effective June 16, 2025) has a group of mattress overlays for pressure redistribution, limited to one every four years.
  • It includes an alternating-air overlay that comes with a pump, and foam-cell, air-cell and gel overlays. A foam levelling pad that the air-cell insert fits into is listed separately, with the same limit.
  • The alternating-air and foam-cell overlays are for people at high risk of skin breakdown. The others are for people who have, or have had, a Stage II pressure ulcer on the pelvis, hip or trunk.
  • Only one pressure redistribution surface is allowed on the bed. A person cannot have a pressure relief mattress and an overlay together.

• Homecare beds and their mattresses

  • Pressure or therapeutic mattress
  • Hospital bed
  • An AADL homecare bed is a powered bed that comes with a frame, bed rails and either a mattress or a foam underlay for an overlay.
  • It is for a person who cannot get in and out of bed or change position in bed, and who is palliative or spends 80 per cent or more of the day in bed.
  • The product list (effective December 1, 2025) has a “pressure relief mattress” for people at risk of skin breakdown. Its description does not say what type of mattress it is. AADL’s web page calls it a “pressure reduction mattress”.
  • Beds are limited to one every four years and mattresses to one every six years.
  • The bed and the pressure relief mattress stay AADL’s property and go back when they are no longer needed.
  • Beds come from AADL’s recycled stock first, through one vendor that AADL designates. A bed cannot be tried at home first.

• Powered replacement mattresses

  • The lists do not describe any mattress as alternating pressure or low air loss. The only surface they list with a pump is the alternating-air overlay.
  • If the nurse or therapist recommends a powered mattress, ask the authorizer what AADL can offer, and check workplace and partner benefits.

• Lifts and slings

  • Lift
  • Sling
  • AADL’s lifters are portable overhead lifters and floor lifters, limited to one in four years. Slings are limited to two every four years.
  • It is for a person who cannot safely move from one position to another and has no other lifter.
  • For an overhead lifter, the person must already have funding for the ceiling track and arrange to have it installed.
  • A lifter can be tried for up to two days through an AADL vendor.

• Positioning cushions

  • The sections on overlays, homecare beds and lifters do not list positioning cushions for use in bed.
  • AADL’s benefits page lists specialized seating devices and wheelchair cushions, which are for seating.

Conditions and limits

• Assessment and authorization come first. An AADL authorizer (an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist or a registered nurse) assesses the person, normally in their home, and confirms eligibility.
• AADL does not pay people back for equipment bought before the assessment and authorization.
• AADL is a cost-share program. Most people pay part of the cost, up to a yearly maximum, and people with low incomes may be exempt. AADL’s cost-sharing page gives the amounts.
• Some items can be upgraded to a more expensive one, and the person pays the extra.
• Each kind of equipment has its own eligibility rules, as set out above.
• AADL does not pay rental charges for short-term needs.
• Homecare beds and lifters might not be new.

How to ask

1. 1

   Ask for an assessment

   AADL’s page says to contact your local hospital or health care centre for an assessment by an approved AADL authorizer, or to contact Health Link, at 811, to find an assessor in your area.

2. 2

   The authorizer assesses and applies

   The authorizer decides what the person is eligible for and completes the authorization. The person signs a consent form.

3. 3

   Get the equipment from an approved vendor

   AADL’s pages say the authorizer gives the person a list of approved vendors, and that large equipment such as a hospital bed is bought by AADL and delivered to the home. Homecare beds come through one vendor.

4. 4

   Questions for AADL

   AADL’s manual gives its Client Services number as 780-427-0731, or toll-free in Alberta by dialling 310-0000 first.

Questions to ask the authorizer

• Which surface on AADL’s lists fits the needs you assessed?
• If you recommend a surface that is not on AADL’s lists, what are the options?
• The person also has a workplace, retiree or partner’s plan. How does that affect what AADL funds?
• Is the mattress part of the homecare bed, or separate?
• How many slings come with the lift?

If the person also has a workplace or partner’s plan, ask that plan too. The question to read out to a plan and how to ask about the exact equipment are on the main page.

Official sources

More help paying for equipment

Before you pay, check the health benefits that cover the person who needs the equipment, starting with where they and their spouse or common-law partner have worked.

Ready to see the equipment? Request a demonstration or discuss a trial.

This page is general information, checked on the date shown. AADL decides who is eligible and what it funds. Evergreen does not decide coverage and cannot promise it.