What services will medicare provide for PWPSP who need additional care at home?
Medicare home health services (Inculding HOSPICE care for terminal conditions) are supposed to be provided to everyone who meets the criteria of homebound and requiring skilled nursing (or PT or OT or SLP) services. Your primary care doctor MUST prescribe them and connected with this can be a home health aide who will do personal care such as bathing, feeding, mouth care, bed-changing, etc. The reality of this is that the interpretation of homebound and skilled nursing varies from state to state and from agency to agency. The best advice is to be very assertive with your primary care doctor and your home health agency, remembering that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Officially, if you qualify, you are entitled to up to 28 hours a week of such services. A primary care doctor who is on your side and determined as well as a supportive and creative home health nurse make all the difference in helping you get and continue to get these services. HOSPICE can be called in much earlier than
