Medicare Benefit Policy Manual-Chapter 7 30.1.1

A patient must meet each of the criteria specified in this section. Patients who meet each of these criteria are eligible to have payment made on their behalf for services discussed in §§40 and 50

30.1 – Confined to the Home
(Rev. 1, 10-01-03)
A3-3117.1, HHA-204.1

30.1.1 – Patient Confined to the Home
(Rev. 208, Issued 04-22-15, Effective: 01-01-15, Implementation: 05-11-15)

For a patient to be eligible to receive covered home health services under both Part A and Part B, the law requires that a physician certify in all cases that the patient is confined to his/her home. For purposes of the statute, an individual shall be considered “confined to the home” (homebound) if the following two criteria are met:

1. Criteria-One:

The patient must either:

		-	Because of illness or injury, need the aid of supportive devices such as
			crutches, canes, wheelchairs, and walkers; the use of special transportation;
			or the assistance of another person in order to leave their place of residence

		OR

		-	Have a condition such that leaving his or her home is medically
			contraindicated.

If the patient meets one of the Criteria-One conditions, then the patient must ALSO meet two additional requirements defined in Criteria-Two below.

2. Criteria-Two:

		-	There must exist a normal inability to leave home;

		AND

		-	Leaving home must require a considerable and taxing effort.

If the patient does in fact leave the home, the patient may nevertheless be considered homebound if the absences from the home are infrequent or for periods of relatively short duration, or are attributable to the need to receive health care treatment. Absences attributable to the need to receive health care treatment include, but are not limited to:

		•	Attendance at adult day centers to receive medical care;
		
		•	Ongoing receipt of outpatient kidney dialysis; or
		
		•	The receipt of outpatient chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Any absence of an individual from the home attributable to the need to receive health care treatment, including regular absences for the purpose of participating in therapeutic, psychosocial, or medical treatment in an adult day-care program that is licensed or certified by a State, or accredited to furnish adult day-care services in a State, shall not disqualify an individual from being considered to be confined to his home. Any other absence of an individual from the home shall not so disqualify an individual if the absence is of an infrequent or of relatively short duration. For purposes of the preceding sentence, any absence for the purpose of attending a religious service shall be deemed to be an absence of infrequent or short duration. It is expected that in most instances, absences from the home that occur will be for the purpose of receiving health care treatment. However, occasional absences from the home for nonmedical purposes, e.g., an occasional trip to the barber, a walk around the block or a drive, attendance at a family reunion, funeral, graduation, or other infrequent or unique event would not necessitate a finding that the patient is not homebound if the absences are undertaken on an infrequent basis or are of relatively short duration and do not indicate that the patient has the capacity to obtain the health care provided outside rather than in the home.

Some examples of homebound patients that illustrate the factors used to determine whether a homebound condition exists are listed below.

		•	A patient paralyzed from a stroke who is confined to a wheelchair or requires the
			aid of crutches in order to walk.
			
		•	A patient who is blind or senile and requires the assistance of another person in
			leaving their place of residence.
			
		•	A patient who has lost the use of their upper extremities and, therefore, is unable
			to open doors, use handrails on stairways, etc., and requires the assistance of
			another individual to leave their place of residence.
			
		•	A patient in the late stages of ALS or neurodegenerative disabilities. In
			determining whether the patient has the general inability to leave the home and
			leaves the home only infrequently or for periods of short duration, it is necessary
			(as is the case in determining whether skilled nursing services are intermittent) to
			look at the patient's condition over a period of time rather than for short periods
			within the home health stay. For example, a patient may leave the home (meeting
			both criteria listed above) more frequently during a short period when the patient
			has multiple appointments with health care professionals and medical tests in 1
			week. So long as the patient's overall condition and experience is such that he or
			she meets these qualifications, he or she should be considered confined to the home.
			
		•	A patient who has just returned from a hospital stay involving surgery, who may
			be suffering from resultant weakness and pain because of the surgery and;
			therefore, their actions may be restricted by their physician to certain specified
			and limited activities (such as getting out of bed only for a specified period of
			time, walking stairs only once a day, etc.).

		•	A patient with arteriosclerotic heart disease of such severity that they must avoid
			all stress and physical activity.

		•	A patient with a psychiatric illness that is manifested in part by a refusal to leave
			home or is of such a nature that it would not be considered safe for the patient to
			leave home unattended, even if they have no physical limitations.

The aged person who does not often travel from home because of feebleness and insecurity brought on by advanced age would not be considered confined to the home for purposes of receiving home health services unless they meet one of the above conditions.

Although a patient must be confined to the home to be eligible for covered home health services, some services cannot be provided at the patient’s residence because equipment is required that cannot be made available there. If the services required by an individual involve the use of such equipment, the HHA may make arrangements with a hospital, SNF, or a rehabilitation center to provide these services on an outpatient basis. (See §50.6.) However, even in these situations, for the services to be covered as home health services the patient must be considered confined to home and meet both criteria listed above.

If a question is raised as to whether a patient is confined to the home, the HHA will be requested to furnish the Medicare contractor with the information necessary to establish that the patient is homebound as defined above.