Public Service Health Care Plan: what it lists for mattresses, hospital beds and lifts

Who it is for

The plan’s member booklet describes it as an employer-sponsored, optional health care plan for eligible employees and pensioners of the federal public service and their eligible dependants. Joining is voluntary for most members.

The booklet’s list of eligible employees includes members of the RCMP. For a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces, it says only eligible dependants are covered. The booklet lists the other groups.

If the person who needs the equipment, or their spouse or common-law partner, worked for the federal government or receives a federal pension, check whether they are a member.

What its documents list

A plan naming a kind of equipment does not mean a particular product is covered. The plan decides.

• Therapeutic mattresses

  • Powered mattress or surface
  • The plan lists “therapeutic mattresses” as durable equipment.
  • Its article of May 30, 2025 describes a therapeutic mattress as a medical-grade mattress designed “to help manage or prevent pressure-related injuries”, typically used with a hospital bed.
  • It says these mattresses “often feature alternating pressure zones, low-air-loss systems, or high-density foam construction”.
  • The article says the benefit is meant for medically necessary therapeutic mattresses, such as those prescribed to treat pressure ulcers and skin breakdown from prolonged bed rest, or for burns.
  • The limit is one therapeutic mattress every five years. The amount is reduced by any mattress repairs the plan paid for in those five years.
  • There is no benefit for a mattress that is not made specifically for medical use, such as an orthopedic or comfort mattress.
  • The documents do not mention mattress overlays.

• Hospital beds

  • Hospital bed
  • The plan lists hospital beds, limited to one in a lifetime. Members can rent or buy.
  • The bed must be made specifically for medical use. The article says adjustable beds sold in retail or furniture stores are not eligible.
  • The person must have a medical condition that clearly calls for a hospital bed. The article gives severe pressure sores as one example of a condition that may be considered.

• Lifts and slings

  • Lift
  • The plan lists “lifts or hoists” to move a person in and out of bed or the bathroom, limited to one in a lifetime.
  • The documents do not name slings.

• Positioning cushions

  • The plan lists wheelchair cushions.
  • The documents do not name positioning cushions for use in bed.

Conditions and limits

• The plan pays 80% of what it calls the reasonable and customary charge for eligible durable equipment.
• A physician must prescribe the equipment, or a nurse practitioner where provincial or territorial law allows.
• The equipment must be made specifically for medical use, be designated medically necessary, and be approved by the plan administrator for cost-effectiveness and clinical value.
• It must be for use in the person’s private residence, unless the plan says otherwise for that item. The documents state no exception for a therapeutic mattress or a hospital bed.
• The plan limits payment to the cost of non-motorized equipment unless it is medically proven that the person needs motorized equipment. It does not say how this applies to a powered mattress.
• The plan does not cover durable equipment “used to prevent illness, disease or injury”. It does not say how this applies to a mattress recommended before a pressure injury has developed.
• The plan does not pay the part of a charge that a provincial or territorial program would pay, whether or not the person takes part in that program.
• The plan says it is “highly recommended” to send an estimate before renting or buying a hospital bed and therapeutic mattress.
• Fees a physician or nurse practitioner charges for completing the form are not reimbursed.

These are the plan’s rules as its documents state them. Canada Life, the plan administrator, decides each claim.

How to ask

1. 1

   Get the prescription

   The physician or nurse practitioner prescribes the equipment and completes their part of the plan’s Durable Equipment Application Form (M7523). The form is used for patient lifters, wheelchairs, hospital beds and therapeutic mattresses, and asks the prescriber to describe the therapeutic mattress and its intended use.

2. 2

   Check the provincial or territorial program

   The form asks members to apply to their provincial or territorial health program first, where one applies.

3. 3

   Send an estimate before you rent or buy

   Tick “Pretreatment/estimate” on the form and send it with a detailed quote from the supplier, showing a breakdown of costs and the equipment’s specifications.

4. 4

   Ask the plan to confirm

   To confirm the coverage available, the plan gives its Member Contact Centre at 1-855-415-4414. Members with Comprehensive coverage are directed to MSH International at 1-833-774-2700.

5. 5

   Rent or buy, then claim

   The same form is the claim form. Attach the receipts.

Questions to ask the plan

The plan’s documents leave these open, so ask them too:

• Is a mattress recommended before a pressure injury has developed eligible?
• Does the plan pay for a powered mattress, or only up to the cost of a non-powered one?
• Is the mattress covered separately from the hospital bed?
• The person lives in a care home. Is equipment used there eligible?
• What does the plan treat as the reasonable and customary charge for this equipment?

Ask for the answer in writing before you order, and note who you spoke to and the date. How to ask about the exact equipment.

Official sources

More help paying for equipment

This is one plan. Another plan, even one run by the same insurer, may list more, less or nothing, and each plan decides each claim.

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

This page is general information, checked on the date shown. The plan decides each claim. Evergreen does not decide coverage and cannot promise it.