Requirements of Receiving Covered Home Health Care

If you require short-term home health care after hospital treatment, Medicare may help cover your expenses. Although not all services, nor all people, are covered, if you meet the benefit requirements, your Medicare plan can go a long way in ensuring you receive the care you need.

Original Medicare helps pay for a number of services for patients requiring home health care.  For instance, although your plan won’t cover personal, full time home care, it does cover part time or intermittent skilled nursing care and home health aides. It also helps pay for wound dressings, for medical equipment, and for physical, occupational and speech-language therapy.

However, in order to be eligible for this type of coverage, your doctor needs to be involved.  He or she must decide whether or not you do require home health care, and make a plan accordingly.  Your specific care needs must be ordered by your doctor and offered by a Medicare-certified agency. You also must be unable to leave home under regular circumstances, although you can attend religious services and go out to receive medical treatments.

If you require home health care, or think you may in the future, now is a good time to start looking into your options.  Talk to your doctor about care options and service providers.