Q. How do I qualify for home health care and have Medicare pay for it?
Q. What does homebound mean?
A. The patient is homebound if he/she experiences a normal inability to leave home. The patient’s physical condition and/or physical limitations are such that it would be a considerable and taxing effort for the patient to leave home.
Determination of homebound status depends on the illness or limitations of the patient. The need for supportive devices for assistance alone does not necessarily render the patient homebound.
Homebound status is not affected by frequent absences from the home when the reason is to receive medical treatment.
The patient is allowed brief and infrequent absences from the home for non-medical reasons, such as barber/beauty shop, to attend church, etc. However, these absences should be infrequent and of short duration.
Q. Can I go to Church on Sunday and still be considered homebound?
Q. Do I have to pay anything if I have Medicare?
Q. If I don’t qualify for Medicare to pay for home health, can I still have it?
Q. How often will you come to see me?
Q. What does Home Health Aide do?
A. The primary function of a home health aide is to perform personal care, such as bathing, dressing, grooming, and caring for hair, nails, and oral hygiene. The aide spends anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour in the home. Once the personal care is complete, the aide may also perform other duties for the patient.
The aide may straighten the bedroom, clean the bathroom, change the bed linens, or fix a snack for the patient. The aide does not perform spring-cleaning, sweep and mop floors, vacuum etc. These duties are the duties of a provider, not an aide.
Q. What is the age range of patient/client/customers? Who do you serve?
A.
- Medicare clients
- 65 years old and above. The usual age of eligibility for those benefits is 65, although certain people qualify for the program earlier. (Medicare is available to people under age 65 who have been eligible for Social Security disability benefits for at least 24 months or who have end-stage renal disease.)
- Medicaid Clients
- The aged, blind, and disabled. Also, parents with dependent children are eligible with household incomes up to 15% of FPL. Children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP with household incomes up to 201% of FPL, and pregnant women are eligible with household incomes up to 198% of FPL. (Source: https://www.healthinsurance.org/texas-medicaid/)