Number: RS21814
Title: Medicare Home Health  Benefits and Payments
Authors: Jennifer Boulanger, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: Medicare pays for unlimited care in the home as long as the following criteria are met: the beneficiary is homebound, in need of skilled care on an intermittent basis, and under the care of a physician. Congress, in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) made a number of changes to home health agency payments including changing the update time frame from a federal fiscal year basis to a calendar year basis. MMA also provided a temporary payment add-on of 5 percent for home care provided to beneficiaries in a rural area.
Pages: 6
Date: Updated April 12, 2004