Weekly help from a home health aide, covered by Medicare
Medicare covers ongoing home health care for some homebound adults. And RubyWell has partnered with My Daughter’s Home Health in Show Low, AZ to help eligible adults on Original Medicare access this valuable benefit.
Home health care lightens the caregiving load
Whether you’re caring for yourself or a loved one, My Daughter’s Home Health can take some care responsibilities off your plate. Under the direction of their skilled nurses, a home health aide can help with these care tasks:
Some activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, repositioning)
Mobility assistance (basic & rehab)
Medication reminders & administration
Light housekeeping to maintain a tidy and safe living space
Preparing meals to comply with a modified diet
Monitoring vital signs
Simple wound care
Medical equipment support
Reporting on the patient’s health status
Therapy support (PT exercises)
Special and routine skin care
Caring for a normally functioning ostomy
Operating mechanical ventilators
Caring for an indwelling catheter
RubyWell and My Daughter’s Home Health can help you access medically necessary home health services that are fully covered if you’re on Original Medicare (Parts A & B).
If your Medicare coverage is provided by an insurance company (like Blue Cross, Cigna, United, Aetna, Humana, etc.), you’re on a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C). At this time we’re unable to work with patients covered by a Medicare Advantage plan.
How can home health help?
Here’s what families often experience when an aging loved one receives home health care:
- Relief from decision-making
- Fewer unplanned hospital trips or ER visits
- Peace of mind that you're not doing this alone
- Fewer out-of-pocket healthcare costs
- Improved health outcomes
- Ability to live at home longer
We help you afford to care for
Mom.
RubyWell's service costs you nothing. Here's how it works:
Answer some questions
We ask about the health, mobility, care needs, and health insurance provider of the person needing care.
Personalized guidance
Our technology can predict if they’re likely eligible for covered care, and our support team guides them through the home health referral process.
Build a care team
We connect the eligible patient with My Daughter’s Home Health, who can provide the approved home health services.
We’ve been there. And we know caregiving is a team sport.
RubyWell was built by and for family caregivers. We know how exhausting and isolating this work can be. So we’re helping families understand and access the support that’s out there.
We’re not a healthcare provider. We’re your advocate. We know how the system works, and we’re making it work for you.
Tech you can trust
RubyWell protects against fraud, waste, and abuse with rigorous audit practices. And we’re committed to maintaining the highest standards of security and data protection. As part of this commitment, RubyWell complies with HIPAA regulations and is SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
FAQs
Medicare covers home health services for beneficiaries who are homebound, at risk for future hospitalizations, and need assistance with activities of daily living (bathing, toileting, continence, dressing, eating, transferring).
Medicare considers a person homebound if both of these statements are true:
- You rarely leave home and when you do, it's just for short appointments or special events.
- Leaving home is difficult due to shortness of breath, pain, limited stamina, or other reasons.
And one of these statements is true:
- You require an assistive device (e.g., wheelchair, walker, crutches, cane), special transportation, or personal assistance to leave home due to illness/injury.
- Their doctor has recommended that you not leave home because of their condition.
Yes! To become a certified home health aide in the state of Arizona, you must:
- be at least 18 years old
- be legally able to work in the U.S.
- pass a criminal background check and obtain a fingerprint clearance card
- test negative for TB
- pass a 59-hour online home health aide training course and 16-hour hands-on practical training.
If your loved one qualifies for the Medicare Home Health benefit, RubyWell can connect you with the online training course and My Daughter’s Home Health can provide the hands-on practical training needed for your certification. Most people complete the training in about 6 weeks.
No, hospice is specifically for end-of-life care. Patients are referred to hospice when they’re not expected to live more than 6 months, and their care is mainly palliative or “comfort” care. Home health care is for patients who may continue to live for years as long as they receive the care and treatments prescribed for them. However, if you believe your loved one would be better served by hospice services, we are happy to connect you to our hospice partners.
Home Health vs. Home Care
Home health is different from home care, in that it includes care tasks that require more medical training than the care tasks provided in home care. For example, home health aides can monitor vital signs, administer medications, and care for wounds, catheters, and ostomies. Home care aides aren’t allowed to perform those kinds of care tasks, Instead, they provide “custodial care” which may include help with activities of daily living, driving to appointments, running errands, and providing companionship.
So while a home health aide can take on some of the more medical care tasks, the person receiving care may still need a family caregiver or home care aide to provide the home care tasks they need help with.
Skilled Services
Home health aides are overseen by a skilled nurse; home care aides are not. And care provided by home health aides is only offered in conjunction with skilled services like:
- Skilled nursing care
- Physical, occupational, or speech therapy
- Medical social services
Home health care services can also include:
- Patient and caregiver education
- Assistance with daily activities (bathing, dressing, grooming) by home health aides when combined with skilled care
- Intravenous or nutrition therapy, injections, and other medical treatments
Original Medicare (Parts A and B) fully covers medically-necessary home health services for eligible patients. 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.
- At the end of the qualification form, you’ll be asked to schedule a call with RubyWell so we can better understand the patient’s care needs and explain the process to you.
- If the patient appears to be eligible, we’ll provide directions to securely upload their Medicare records so we can review their recent hospital visits and health updates. This will help us predict with greater accuracy if they may be eligible for covered home health services.
- If that information indicates that they may qualify for covered home health, we’ll guide them through the process of discussing a home health referral order with their doctor. The referral order tells Medicare and the home health agency that the doctor believes that certain home health services would be suitable for the patient.
- Once the patient has a referral order, we’ll refer them to our Medicare-certified partner home health agencies in their area. The agencies may review the referral order, schedule the Medicare-required home visit, and prepare a personalized care plan.
- The agency you ultimately work with may match the patient with a home health aide, supervising skilled nurse, and any other therapists that may be indicated on the referral order. Care will start when the care team is staffed and visits are scheduled.
