Paying for care
Medicare home health benefit
The Medicare home health benefit pays for part-time or intermittent skilled care at home. It can include skilled nursing, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and a home health aide while skilled care continues. A doctor must order it, and a Medicare-certified agency must provide it.
Why it matters for your family
To qualify, the person must be homebound and need skilled services. Medicare says covered home health services cost you nothing, though you pay 20 percent for durable medical equipment. The benefit does not cover 24-hour home care, meal delivery, or custodial or personal care when that is the only care needed. A common mistake is to confuse home health with home care. Home health is part-time skilled care ordered by a doctor. Home care is ongoing non-medical help with daily life. Many families use home health for recovery and private home care for the longer term.
Source: medicare.gov
Read more: What Medicare Doesn't Cover
Related terms
- Homebound statusHomebound status is a Medicare rule for the home health benefit.
- Home health careHome health care is medical care given at home for an illness or injury, such as skilled nursing and therapy.
- Skilled nursing careSkilled nursing care is nursing and therapy that only licensed professionals, or staff supervised by them, can safely provide.
- Medicare Part AMedicare Part A is hospital insurance.
- Medicare coverage of custodial careCustodial care is non-skilled personal care, such as help with bathing, dressing, eating, and using the bathroom.
- Home health aide (HHA)A home health aide (HHA) helps people at home with personal care, such as bathing, dressing, and moving around, and may help with simple health tasks under a nurse's direction.
