• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Donate Now
  • Sign Up

Center for Medicare Advocacy

Advancing Access to Medicare and Healthcare

  • Eligibility/Enrollment
  • Coverage/Appeals
    • Medicare Costs (2021)
    • Self Help Materials – Toolkits & More
  • Topics
    • Basic Introduction to Medicare
    • COVID-19 and Medicare
    • Medicare Costs (2021)
    • Home Health Care
    • Improvement Standard and Jimmo News
    • Nursing Home / Skilled Nursing Facility Care
    • Outpatient Observation Status
    • Part B
    • Part D / Prescription Drug Benefits
    • Medicare for People Under 65
    • Medicare “Reform”
    • All Other Topics
    • Resources
      • Infographics
  • Publications
    • CMA Alerts
    • Fact Sheets & Issue Briefs
    • Infographics
    • The Medicare Handbook
    • SNF Enforcement Newsletter
    • Elder Justice Newsletter
    • Medicare Facts & Fiction
    • Articles by Topic
  • Litigation
    • Litigation News
    • Cases
    • Litigation Archive
    • Amicus Curiae Activities
  • Newsroom
    • Press Releases
    • Editorials & Letters to the Editor
    • CMA Comments, Responses, and Letters
    • Medicare Facts & Fiction
    • CMA in the News
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • CMA FAQs
    • Personnel & Boards
    • The Center for Medicare Advocacy Founder’s Circle
    • Connecticut Dually Eligible Appeals Project
    • Ossen Medicare Outreach, Education and Advocacy Project
    • National Medicare Advocates Alliance
    • National Voices of Medicare Summit
    • CMA Webinars
    • Products & Services
    • Testimonials
    • Career, Fellowship & Internship Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • Support Our Work
    • Donate Now
    • Join the Center for Medicare Advocacy Founder’s Circle
    • Take Action
    • Share Your Health Care Story
    • Tell Congress to Protect Our Care
    • Listen to Medicare & Health Care Stories
    • Sign Up

Medicare Home Health Access Problems Continue

January 17, 2018

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

As we have reported, the Center for Medicare Advocacy has been hearing from people unable to access Medicare-covered home health care, or the appropriate amount of care, despite meeting Medicare coverage criteria.  In particular, people living with long-term and debilitating conditions find themselves facing significant access problems.

In a January 17 NPR article, Susan Jaffe of Kaiser Health News covered this home health access problem and featured two beneficiaries who need this care. One of these individual, Colin Campbell, lives with ALS and has been told by 14 Home Health providers that Medicare won’t cover his home care – an all too common, but incorrect, statement.  Center for Medicare Advocacy Associate Director Kathleen Holt explained: "Medicare coverage laws are not being enforced and people are not getting the care that they need in order to stay in their homes."

Federal law authorizes Medicare to pay indefinitely for home care – with no copayments or deductibles – if a doctor ordered it, the patient can leave home only with great difficulty, and the patient meets skilled care requirements. In particular, to obtain Medicare home health coverage, patients must need part-time or intermittent nursing or therapy to maintain, improve or slow decline of their condition. They do not need to show improvement to qualify for coverage.

  • Article on Kaiser Health News: https://khn.org/news/home-care-agencies-often-wrongly-deny-medicare-help-to-the-chronically-ill
  • Article on NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/17/578423012/home-care-agencies-often-wrongly-deny-medicare-help-to-the-chronically-ill.

M. Shepard, January 17, 2018

Filed Under: Article Tagged With: alert, Home Health, Weekly Alert

Primary Sidebar

Easy Access to Understanding Medicare

The Center for Medicare Advocacy produces a range of informative materials on Medicare-related topics. Check them out:

  • Medicare Basics
  • CMA Alerts
  • CMA Webinars
  • Connecticut Info & Projects
  • Health Care Stories
  • Se habla Español

Sign Up for CMA Alerts

Jimmo v. Sebelius

Medicare covers skilled care to maintain or slow decline as well as to improve.

Improvement Isn’t Required. It’s the law!

Read more.

Medicare: Build Back Better

By prioritizing Medicare beneficiaries and the health systems that serve them, we can avoid drastic national consequences. The Center for Medicare Advocacy proposes a five-part plan that will make Medicare a bulwark against the worsening health and economic challenges facing the American people.

learn more.

Latest Tweets

  • RT @AmerGeriatrics: Advocates at @CMAorg argue that #COVID19 outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities are affected by more than geograph… https://t.co/HfSaUvahjX, 10 hours ago
@CMAorg

Footer

Stay Connected:

  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Products & Services
  • Copyright/Privacy

© 2021 · Center for Medicare Advocacy