Health
On ADA Anniversary, President Announces Expanded Medicare “Homebound” Coverage Policy
On July 26th, the twelfth anniversary of enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, President Bush announced that Medicare would expand the type of activities outside the home that would not disqualify beneficiaries from receiving home-health benefits. Under the previous policy, certain home-health beneficiaries were considered “homebound” and were not permitted to leave home except for health or religious services or for adult day care.
In 2000, an example of the problem with the previous Medicare policy arose when beneficiary David Jayne, who has advanced Lou Gehrig’s disease, was disqualified from home-health benefits because he attended a sporting event with his son. In response, Congress is considering legislation to expand the situations where such beneficiaries may leave home. UCP has endorsed S. 2085 by Sens. Collins (R-ME), Bond (R-MO), Cleland (D-GA), Hutchison (R-AR), Kerry (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT), Miller (D-GA) and Snowe (R-ME), and HR 1490 by Reps. Markey (D-MA), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and 63 other sponsors.
UCP welcomes President Bush’s new policy, although it appears to be less expansive than the changes that would be made by the pending legislation. For instance, it appears that under the President’s new policy, Medicare’s claims-processing firms may still use a degree of discretion about whether specific beneficiaries should be covered, thus creating an element of uncertainty for all beneficiaries receiving extended home-health services.