What is a home health agency?

A home health agency is an organization that provides skilled health care at home, such as nursing and physical, occupational or speech therapy, after a doctor orders it. Medicare.gov says home health care can help a person get better, maintain their condition or slow their decline. For Medicare to pay, a Medicare-certified agency must provide the care, and staff keep the doctor updated on progress.

A home health agency provides skilled medical care, such as nursing, wound care, injections and therapy, ordered by a doctor. Home care usually means non-medical help: companion services, personal care such as bathing and dressing, and homemaker services such as housekeeping and meals. The Alzheimer's Association describes both. Medicare does not cover custodial or personal care when that is the only care someone needs.

Medicare covers home health care for a person with dementia only when they meet the same rules as anyone else. Medicare.gov says the person must be homebound, need part-time or intermittent skilled care, and have a doctor or nurse practitioner see them and order the care. Covered services cost nothing. Medicare does not pay for help with bathing, dressing or toileting when that is the only care needed.

Only in limited cases. Medicare.gov says it covers part-time or intermittent home health aide care only while the person is also getting skilled nursing or therapy. In most cases, skilled nursing and aide services combined can total up to 8 hours a day and no more than 28 hours a week. Medicare does not cover an aide for personal care alone or for homemaker services such as cleaning.

Home health care aims to help a person recover, maintain their condition or slow decline, and Medicare requires them to be homebound and need skilled care. Hospice is end-of-life care for someone whose doctor certifies a life expectancy of six months or less and who chooses comfort care instead of treatment to cure the illness. Medicare.gov says hospice can be given at home or where the person lives.