On February 2, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will issue a final rule clarifying that Medicaid beneficiaries do not need to be “homebound” in order to receive home health services. In addition, the final rule, which revises Medicaid home health regulations (42 C.F.R. § 440.70(c)(1-2)), makes clear that Medicaid home health services are not limited to home settings.
As Gene Coffey, formerly an attorney with the National Senior Citizens Law Center (now called Justice in Aging), wrote in the January 2010 issue of Caring magazine, “Medicaid’s coverage for home health services plays a critical role in helping individuals stay in their homes and communities while also helping states meet their responsibilities under the [Americans with Disabilities Act].”
According to Justice in Aging, which has been at the forefront of efforts to bring federal and state regulations into compliance with federal law in this area, the final rule “codifies longstanding agency policy, previously articulated in a 2000 letter to state Medicaid directors, that a Medicaid homebound requirement for home health services violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as articulated in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999).” Despite this, some states have required that recipients be homebound.
Justice in Aging notes that the final rule does not change Medicare’s homebound requirement, although CMS acknowledges the challenges this poses for dual eligible recipients and notes in its rule commentary that “we would permit states the flexibility to authorize additional hours of home health services to account for medical needs that may arise out of the home.” (pg. 56)
The rule will take effect July 1, 2016. However, to ensure that states and providers are implementing the rule appropriately, CMS is delaying compliance with the rule for up to two years, depending on a state’s legislative cycle.
For more details from Justice in Aging, click here.
