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Does Medicaid Cover Temporary In-Home Care After a Stroke?
Date Updated: January 10, 2025
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Sarah has produced thousands of articles in diverse niches over her decade-long career as a full-time freelance writer. This includes substantial content in the fields of senior care and health care. She has experience writing about wide-ranging topics, such as types of care, care costs, funding options, state Medicaid programs and senior resources.
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Kristi Bickmann, a licensed Long-Term Care Specialist, represents top-rated "Traditional" & "Hybrid" LTC companies. Serving associations such as the American Nurses Association, she's a licensed insurance agent in 27 states. Specializing in insurance products for seniors, Kristi helps hundreds of families every year protect assets, retirement, and loved ones. She understands aging concerns firsthand, having assisted her own parents. Kristi ensures accuracy on topics about senior long-term care and its consequences.
Yes, Medicaid covers temporary in-home care after a stroke for eligible individuals. People must still meet program criteria, which vary among states. Following a stroke, some seniors may also need home health care services to safely return home after a hospital or transitional nursing home stay.
Basic Outline of In-Home Care
In-home care provides nonmedical support to seniors in their private homes. Practical support includes helping them with everyday tasks, such as:
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Meal preparation
- Household chores
- Transportation
- Companionship
Aides perform tasks according to individualized care plans. Following a stroke, older adults often require temporary hands-on help while they recover skills and strength. Yet, some seniors will need ongoing assistance.
Medicaid pays for home care services in most states. However, each state implements its own rules regarding funding availability, eligibility criteria and service provision. While some areas fund in-home care through traditional Medicaid programs, most use waiver schemes to expand coverage to those who wouldn’t meet the stricter requirements of state plans. Unlike regular Medicaid, these optional Home and Community-Based Services and Section 1115 Demonstrations waivers don’t create funding entitlement, and seniors may need to go on a waiting list.
Basic Outline of Home Health Care
Home health care includes wide-ranging medical and therapeutic services, often beneficial for those who’ve experienced a stroke. For example, with the permission of their physician and discharge team, a senior can leave the hospital and receive intermittent skilled nursing services at home. This allows them to recuperate in a familiar setting if their condition remains stable. Additionally, home health care includes physical, occupational and speech therapies, which stroke victims often need as part of their rehabilitation plans.
State Medicaid plans cover home health care as an entitlement for qualifying individuals. Criteria include limited financial resources and clinical needs. No waiting lists apply for funding for home health care, and payments continue for as long as a physician deems the care medically necessary.