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Health Care
 Todd
starts his review of the Medicare Part A coverage for home health care
services and supplies by reading about the eligibility requirements.
To be eligible for
home health care, a person with Medicare must meet four conditions:
- A doctor must
decide that the person needs medical care in his or her home and
must create a plan for home care.
- The person
must need at least one of the following:
• Intermittent
(and not full time) skilled nursing care
•
Physical therapy
•
Speech/language pathology services
•
Occupational therapy
- The person
must be homebound, which means that he or she is normally unable to
leave home or that leaving home is a major effort. When the person
leaves home, it must be infrequent, for a short time,
or to get medical care or attend a religious service. A new regulation
allows a person to attend adult daycare and still qualify
for home health care.
- The home health
agency that provides the care must be approved by Medicare.
Todd thinks his
father will meet all four conditions and will qualify for home health
care. Todd is starting to worry about all the special equipment his parents
might require in their home, so he reviews the coverage.
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