How to Qualify for Home Health Care

If you or a loved one is heading home after a stay at a rehabilitation center or hospital, there are home health care services available that can help the healing process continue at home. Santé offers a variety of services provided to patients in the comfort of their home to ensure they receive a compassionate continuum of care throughout their recovery. Services include nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy, social workers and home health aides. For those with Medicare Part A and/or Part B, these types of services are usually covered.

Here’s a general overview of how to qualify for home health care:

1. You must be homebound and in need of the help of another person or special equipment (wheelchair, etc.) in order to leave your home, or you are not able to safely leave your home at all.
   
2. You must be in need of skilled nursing care or skilled therapy services on an intermittent basis (as little as once every 60 days to as much as once a day for three weeks). If you only need occupational therapy, you will not qualify for the Medicare home health benefit. However, you can add on occupational therapy to other covered home health services. 
3. Your doctor must submit a signed home health statement indicating your need for care. This statement should state that a plan of care has been established via a face-to-face meeting with you and that a doctor will regularly assess this plan. 
4. You must receive your care from a home health agency approved by Medicare.

If all four of these qualifications are met, you should qualify for Medicare’s home health care benefit. Some services you might qualify for include:

• Part-time or intermittent home health aide
• Part-time or intermittent skilled nursing
• Physical therapy
• Speech therapy
• Occupational therapy

It’s important to know that Medicare does not pay for:

• Full-time (24 hours a day) care at home
• Meals delivered to your home
• Homemaker services
• Personal care

Learn more about the home health services offered at Santé. Specialized programming is available for those with COPD, pain, and congestive heart failure.

For more information about how to qualify for home health care services offered at Santé, please call 480.264.4568 or contact us online.