Medicare covers very little when it comes to in-home care, but that doesn’t mean it covers nothing. In some instances, Medicare will cover the costs of home health care, but only on limited and temporary basis. For this to happen, each of the following criteria need to be met:
- Care must be supplied by a Medicare certified service provider.
- The care needs to be given to someone who is completely homebound. The definition of this is roughly that a homebound individual cannot leave their home without assistance.
- The person receiving care must need the assistance of a licensed nurse or a therapist at home. This needs to be put into writing by a doctor.
Even with this, care needs to meet certain limitations. Otherwise, Medicare stops covering it. The care must be for less than seven days per week, and less than eight hours per day. It needs to last for 21 days or less. Care needs to be for less than 28 hours per week, although in special circumstances it can go for up to 35 hours per week.
Medicare does not pay for non-skilled in-home care to help with the activities of daily living unless the person in question is also receiving skilled nursing care or therapy. And the majority of people who would benefit from in-home care need precisely this.
In other words, Medicare payment for in-home care is extremely limited. Yes, it exists, but probably not at the same levels that most people looking for care for an elderly loved one need. Medicare is mostly a patch when it comes to in-home care, either until Medicaid kicks in, or until something more permanent is found. When it comes to in-home care, many people find themselves needing to pay out of pocket, and some of them are caught completely unaware by this. Unfortunately, unless people take it upon themselves to be more educated on this subject, this is the way that health insurance currently works here.
How do you plan on paying for the care of a loved one? It’s better to start thinking about this sooner rather than later. If you wait until the last minute to address this question, you will be surprised by how much your family’s unanticipated costs end up being. Eventually, Medicaid will kick in, but when this occurs, your freedom to choose the type of care and the quality of life that your loved one prefers goes down considerably. Start planning today to avoid this issue.
If you have further questions about being able to pay for the care of an older parent, get in touch with Paradise In-Home Care today. We can help point you in the right direction when it comes to affording your family’s care, and we can answer any other questions you might have in the meantime. If you think that our services are right for you, be sure to schedule a free consultation so that all of your questions (financial or otherwise) are answered before you commit.
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