CMA Home Health Survey Special Report: Medicare Beneficiaries Likely Misinformed and Underserved
The Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA) has released a special report from their survey of 217 Medicare-certified home health agencies in 20 states. The home health survey aimed to learn what beneficiaries may experience when seeking home care.
CMA inquired about home health services available from each agency for a hypothetical patient with an authorized practitioner’s order. Responses about home health aide services were very different. In addition, questions were fielded to the official CMS Medicare help line. The report identifies widespread misunderstanding among home health agencies about the meaning of personal care, the amount of home health aide hours covered by Medicare, and the legality of providing maintenance services. The report compares the results with their 2016 home health survey.
Several recommendations are made that are aimed at properly administering current Medicare home health coverage laws:
- Provide accurate, ongoing education about Medicare home health coverage
- Ensure fair and appropriate, non-discriminatory implementation of Medicare-covered home health services, as authorized by law, in all CMS practices and policies
To learn more, click here.
To go to the survey report PDF, click here.
To learn about JAHF's support of CMA, click here.
