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Does Medicare Cover Telehealth Services for Home Health Care?
Date Updated: December 13, 2024
Written by:
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.
Reviewed by:
Gene Altaffer has a Masters in Gerontology from the University of Southern California and has worked in many avenues along the continuum of long-term care, assisting thousands of clients and their families since 1995. He also sold long-term care insurance from numerous carriers while also assisting families with retirement planning. Gene helps seniors navigate their Medicare plans, ensuring they understand their benefits and options.
No, Medicare does not cover telehealth services for home health care. Although the national insurance program does include telehealth for eligible individuals, such services fall outside the scope of home health care. Agencies may still use online communications for their convenience but can’t bill them as home health care services.
Medicare Coverage of Home Health Care Services
Medicare pays for specific home health services in a person’s private abode. Trained and qualified medical professionals visit patients in person, and teams include nurses, therapists and personal care aides. Typical Medicare-funded services include:
- Skilled nursing, such as IV therapy, continence management and wound care
- Family and patient education
- Nutrition therapy
- Occupational therapy (initially alongside other skilled or therapeutic services)
- Physical therapy
- Speech-language therapy
- Medical social services
- Personal care when people also receive skilled care
Note: home health care plans don’t include telehealth services.
Medicare Coverage of Telehealth
Part B of Medicare pays for certain telehealth services. Previously, only people living in rural areas could use such services, but the program temporarily expanded coverage to everyone regardless of where they lived. For home health care, doctors could use online communications for home health care certification and recertification purposes in place of a face-to-face visit.
However, as of July 2024, the country has potential plans to pass the Telehealth Modernization Act, which would make certain temporary measures permanent. If passed, the law would allow people to access telehealth services from various locations, including their homes, and allow wider provider use in line with CMS guidelines.