Medicare Advantage (MA) announced earlier this year and confirmed again recently that the program will be paying for non-medical in-home provided from a state licensed agency. This is a HUGE advancement for the seniors who opt for this supplemental coverage. Never before has MA paid for ANY private non-medical care at home.  

It is great to see the swing in health care move towards the home verses facility living where seniors can receive one on one care in their own familiar home. This opens up many more options for seniors who were concerned they would end up having to move from their home. Plus so many more people who perhaps could not afford private care at home before will now have access to these important home services. There is also mention of MA paying for aging in place solutions such as wheel chair ramps and grab bars for safety.

Some people are surprised to learn that the majority of the time all it takes for someone to stay at home is the basics such as; meal preparation, transportation to doctor appointments, medication reminders, assistance with personal hygiene, housekeeping and someone checking on them for safety. When medical help is needed skilled medical providers through Home Health can come into the home to provide nursing and physical therapy services. And Hospice provides for end of life comfort care keeping the senior home for life. Both services of which are already covered by Medicare if the person meets the requirements.

It is not clear at this time exactly when the program will start but one source says January 2019. Private duty home care agencies will be ramping up to prepare the large influx of new clients. The concern will become will there be enough caregivers to provide the care?

At Homecare By Design we have already created a pathway for this new option in senior care and will further enhance it once we learn more about the exact program details.

More updates will be added as we learn more about this exciting news!

Referenced Articles:

https://www.lilesparker.com/2018/06/26/cms-confirms-coverage-personal-care-medicare-advantage/

https://homehealthcarenews.com/2018/04/cms-officially-adds-non-skilled-in-home-care-as-medicare-advantage-benefit/