I was just wondering if anyone had heard of a new Medicare ruling regarding homebound status of a home care patient.....
Someone stated the other day at my office that there was a new ruling that stated that homecare patients could drive to "secure medications and food". Has anyone else heard or seen this???
My concern is the fact that if this is true, how many patients who are not actually homebound will use this to take advantage of the situation......... say when a nurse tries to see them... they are not home..... stating "I had to go to the drug store or grocery store" when actually they were gone doing whatever they wanted.
Thanks Karen. I always wondered how my agency would get away with that, because when they decided to make that change, because we were so short on HHA's, they told many patients to get a PCA through Medicaid, nothing in writing of course! It was one of the things that made me stop case managing, and go per diem. I had many patients who were very upset after having one aide for years in some cases!
All the other places I worked for split billed. I don't know how they get away with it other than simply saying we do not provide PCA under Medicaid.
So, if I am interpreting this correctly, many of the pt's we now have as chronic under Medicaid could actually keep bennies under Medicare, and in so doing, the HHA/PCA service would still be Medicaid, since care is payor of last resort, or would they split bill? Have they stopped split billing?
Oy! I'm getting so confused not being in the field very much any more!
Thanks Karen. I always wondered how my agency would get away with that, because when they decided to make that change, because we were so short on HHA's, they told many patients to get a PCA through Medicaid, nothing in writing of course! It was one of the things that made me stop case managing, and go per diem. I had many patients who were very upset after having one aide for years in some cases!
All the other places I worked for split billed. I don't know how they get away with it other than simply saying we do not provide PCA under Medicaid.
So, if I am interpreting this correctly, many of the pt's we now have as chronic under Medicaid could actually keep bennies under Medicare, and in so doing, the HHA/PCA service would still be Medicaid, since care is payor of last resort, or would they split bill? Have they stopped split billing?
Oy! I'm getting so confused not being in the field very much any more!
This is one of many reasons I'm grateful I'm not doing HH anymore. There was no continuity of care, for every time I got a patient with both 'Care and 'Caid, I kept getting directives from the Powers That May Be, to manipulate their pay sources, which meant they got inappropriately discharged and readmitted to a lower level of care...regardless of what the doctors wanted...all to achive that "mix" the agency wanted...which usually resulted in the patient being rehospitalized....and readmitted to our agency back under skilled care. Does that make sense??
hoolahan, ASN, RN
1 Article; 1,721 Posts
Thanks Karen. I always wondered how my agency would get away with that, because when they decided to make that change, because we were so short on HHA's, they told many patients to get a PCA through Medicaid, nothing in writing of course! It was one of the things that made me stop case managing, and go per diem. I had many patients who were very upset after having one aide for years in some cases!
All the other places I worked for split billed. I don't know how they get away with it other than simply saying we do not provide PCA under Medicaid.
So, if I am interpreting this correctly, many of the pt's we now have as chronic under Medicaid could actually keep bennies under Medicare, and in so doing, the HHA/PCA service would still be Medicaid, since care is payor of last resort, or would they split bill? Have they stopped split billing?
Oy! I'm getting so confused not being in the field very much any more!