The care support you deserve, covered by Medicare
Medicare covers ongoing home health care for some homebound adults. And Thrive Home Health has partnered with RubyWell 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, Thrive Home Health can take some care responsibilities off your plate. Home health services they provide include:
Physical therapy
Occupational therapy
Skilled nursing
Home health aide support
Thrive Home Health and RubyWell can help you access medically necessary home health services that are fully covered if you’re on Original Medicare (Parts A & B). We also accept patients covered by United Healthcare Medicare Advantage.
How can home health help?
Here’s what families often experience when their aging loved one receives home health care:
- Relief from constant caregiving and 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.
Here's how RubyWell’s free service 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 Thrive 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.
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 share their Medicare ID number, so we can confirm that they're covered by Original Medicare. This way we can help you avoid costly co-pays for unnecessary doctor visits if we learn that they're actually covered by a Medicare Advantage plan that we can't work with.
- If they're covered by Original Medicare, we'll provide them with a Home Health Discussion Guide that will help them communicate their care needs clearly with their doctor. They will need to have this discussion in a face-to- face encounter with their doctor in order for the doctor to assess if they should provide a home health referral order for the patient. 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 Thrive Home Health. Thrive may then review the referral order, schedule the Medicare-required home visit, and prepare a personalized care plan.
- Thrive may then 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.
