FAQS

Am I eligible to receive Home Health Care benefits through Medicare?

If you have Medicare insurance, you are eligible for home health benefits if you meet all of the following conditions:

1. Your doctor must decide that you need medical care at home, and arrange for this care.
2. You must need one or more of the following services:
   • Intermittent skilled nursing care
   • Physical therapy
   • Speech-language pathology services
   • Continued occupational therapy
3. The home health agency caring for you must be approved by the Medicare Program (Medicare-certified).
4. You must be homebound or normally unable to leave home unassisted. To be homebound means that leaving home takes considerable and taxing effort. A person may leave home for medical treatment or short, infrequent absences for non-medical reasons, such as a trip to attend religious services. You can still get home health care if you attend adult day care.

What is Private Duty Home Care?

"Private duty nursing services," "personal care services" and "home care services" are terms frequently used interchangeably to refer to home care services that are privately paid and provided to residents in their homes or places of residence. Funding may also come from long term care insurance, automobile insurance, or worker's compensation insurance. Private duty services are not reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid or health care insurance plans such as Blue Cross.

Services may include nursing care, assistance with activities of daily living, help with range of motion exercises, grooming and toileting, companionship and simple housekeeping or chore work. Services occur in hourly blocks of time, for example, 4 hours, 8 hours, or 24 hours per day.

What is Care Management?

Care management includes the services of a nurse who will monitor and maintain all of your care needs and speak with family or other designated health care professionals on a regular basis.

All private duty personal care services provided by Glacier Hills Home Care begin with an onsite nurse visit and care assessment, and are supervised by a nurse who continues to maintain and monitor the plan of care. This service is not always offered by other non-medical personal care agencies.