NEW! CMS Again Reissues Improved Medicare Home Health Booklet

In a CMA Alert last month, the Center for Medicare Advocacy (Center) discussed CMS’ updates to the newly revised CMS Home Health Booklet based on suggestions and coverage clarifications made to CMS by the Center. While the Center was encouraged by CMS’ revisions to the Booklet, the Center continued to seek further improvements. In a quick response, CMS incorporated most of the Center’s suggested follow-up edits into the revised Booklet. The re-revised CMS Home Health Booklet is available at https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/10969-Medicare-and-Home-Health-Care.pdf.

While the current Booklet more accurately describes Medicare’s home health coverage, the example on page 16 of the Booklet, comparing quality measures between home health agencies, provides a chart that favors improvement, not maintenance care. Unfortunately, current quality measures and payment incentives for home health agencies do not meaningfully measure care for people who need maintenance care. As a result, many beneficiaries with chronic conditions who require maintenance care are not able to access the level of home health care described in the Booklet, and authorized by Medicare law. 

Please contact the Center if you, or someone you know, experience difficulty obtaining Medicare-covered home health care. Tell us your home health care story at http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/submit-your-home-health-access-story.