FAQs
At RubyWell, we help families and care providers work together to safely manage health at home.
Curious about how we can help you or how RubyWell works?
Take a look at our frequently asked questions.
RubyWell is a technology company that helps families and care providers work together to safely manage care at home.
We believe that caring for a homebound loved one shouldn’t mean sacrificing your emotional, physical, and financial well-being. So we’re building RubyWell to help Medicare beneficiaries access the covered home health care they may be entitled to, which means their family caregivers can get the support they deserve.
Care
We predict eligibility for the Medicare home health benefit and guide you through the cumbersome process of accessing care. This includes creating a personalized Home Health Discussion Guide that helps you communicate your loved one’s care needs clearly with their doctor. That information helps the doctor write a Home Health Referral Order that’s accepted by the home health agency we match you with and Medicare.
Learn
We’ve created a blog where families can also find articles and guides that help you manage the financial impact of your caregiving journey.
To qualify for Medicare-covered home health, your doctor must confirm two things:
- You meet homebound criteria, which means it’s difficult or impossible to leave home without help of another person or a device like a cane, walker, crutches, or wheelchair.
- You need skilled medical services such as nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy.
To work with RubyWell, you must also be covered by Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan that one of our partner agencies accepts.
In order for RubyWell to guide you through the process of accessing Medicare-covered home health care, the person you care for must be on Original Medicare (Parts A and B). Some of our partner home health agencies also accept a handful of Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans.
Home health is skilled medical care provided in your home. It can include nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, as well as home health aide support when required as part of a care plan that includes skilled care. The goal of home health is to help you recover from illness or injury, manage chronic conditions, and help you stay safe, stable, and out of the hospital.
RubyWell’s customers are home health agencies. They pay us for the use of our technology that helps identify Medicare beneficiaries in their community who are eligible for home health services and streamlines their patient onboarding process. This allows us to offer our home health eligibility and care navigation services to families for free.
Grow
We help Medicare-certified home health agencies grow their patient census. Our community outreach and proprietary technology helps them identify Medicare patients who are eligible for covered home health services but not receiving professional care. By predicting eligibility and guiding the patient through the home health referral order process, we streamline the onboarding process and ease administrative burden for agencies.
Diversify
RubyWell is helping forward-thinking, Medicare-certified agencies compliantly incorporate chronic complex patient care into their service mix. This model can improve outcomes, lower total cost of care, diversify patient census, and drive revenue.
In order to be paid to provide home health care for a loved one on Medicare, you need to be trained and certified as a home health aide. Activities you can be paid for as a member of your loved one's home health team could include:
- Preparing meals
- Administering medication (as allowed)
- Routine or special skin care
- Using medical equipment, supplies, and devices
- Changing dressings
- Performing simple measurements and tests to monitor patient’s medical condition
- Performing a maintenance exercise program
- Caring for a normally functioning ostomy
- Indwelling catheter care
- Using mechanical ventilators
- Observing, recording, and reporting to the care team
RubyWell has launched our Family Health Worker pilot program in Maricopa County, AZ. The program supports family caregivers with home health aide training, certification, and employment as a member of their loved one's care team. We’re currently not accepting new families to this pilot program, while we work out training logistics.
No, there’s no cost for RubyWell’s home health care eligibility and navigation services. And for eligible Original Medicare (Parts A and B) beneficiaries, Medicare covers medically-necessary home health services. Medicare Advantage plans (Part C) are required to cover the same services as Original Medicare, but they may charge a copay, and you may need prior authorization for care.
RubyWell is currently working with families whose loved one lives in:
Arizona
- Maricopa County
- Navajo County
Florida
- Lee County
- Orange County
- Osceola County
- Pinellas County
- Seminole County
Pennsylvania
- Bucks County
- Crawford County
- Delaware County
- Montgomery County
- Philadelphia County
We expect to expand to more counties and states in 2026.
Family caregivers everywhere can access our Well of Resources, which contains articles and guides that help you manage the financial impact of your caregiving journey.
The timing depends on how soon you can get a doctor’s appointment to discuss a home health referral order, which is required to start care. Once we receive the referral order from the doctor, the home health agency must schedule the first visit (also called the initial assessment) usually within 48 hours. When the care begins depends on the agency's staffing and your schedule.
Medicare covers home health services based on medical needs. The frequency and length of home health visits will depend on the medically necessary services required.
Patients may receive:
- One or more visits per week for skilled nursing or therapy
- Additional support from a home health aide if requested in the care plan
- Meetings with a medical social worker for family counseling and education, and referrals to resources, if requested in the care plan
If your loved one needs help beyond skilled care, like housekeeping, errands, transportation, meal prep, etc., we may be able to refer you to a trusted home care partner. Home care, however, is not covered by Medicare.
No. Home health care is meant to support you, not replace you.
Nursing and therapy services help ensure your loved one is getting the medical care they need from medical professionals, to help them live safely at home and reduce hospital and ER visits. It also gives you a break from having to provide all the care and make all the medical decisions on your own.
The skilled professionals who provide home health services to your loved one can also answer your questions and give you guidance on how to provide the care tasks that fall outside of the home health care plan.
And you may be able to work with the agency's medical social worker, who can provide family counseling and education, as well as referrals to resources that can ease your caregiving intensity.
RubyWell can help you explore additional support, including:
- Home Care, which is "unskilled" care that includes companionship, errands, transportation, light housework, and help with activities of daily living. This is not covered by Medicare, but is covered by many long term care insurance policies.
- Healthcare Advocacy, which can help you navigate the health system by scheduling appointments, explaining Medicare benefits, and resolving billing issues. This is covered by Medicare.
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Click here to learn more about our partners that offer these services.
RubyWell is HIPAA compliant. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and it includes both a Privacy Rule and a Security Rule to protect individuals' health information. The Privacy Rule sets limits and conditions on the use and disclosure of protected health information. The Security Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals' electronic personal health information. The Security Rule requires covered entities, like RubyWell, to protect patients' electronically stored, protected health information (ePHI) by using appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure its confidentiality, integrity, and security.
We’re also SOC2 Type 2 certified. This means that we have put rigorous systems and protocols in place to protect sensitive information. And that these measures are tested and proven effective over time—not just at a single point.
Have questions or concerns? You can contact RubyWell by emailing us at hello@rubywell.com.
Still have questions? Contact us
Caring for a homebound loved one?
We can help you learn if they may qualify for covered home health services through Medicare. If they do, we can guide you through the home health referral order process and match you with a Medicare-certified home health agency. So you both can get the support you deserve.
