⁴To qualify for Medicare-covered home health care, (1) a doctor must certify that the beneficiary requires medical care at home; (2) the beneficiary’s care needs must include intermittent (not full-time) skilled nursing care, physical therapy, or speech language pathology services; (3) the home health agency must be approved by the Medicare program; and (4) the beneficiary must be homebound. States are required to cover home health services for Medicaid beneficiaries. But they also may choose to cover additional services that are not mandatory under federal standards, such as personal care services, private-duty nursing care, and rehabilitative services. Moreover, states may cover Medicaid home- and community-based services (e.g., case management, homemaker, home health aide, personal care, adult day health care, habilitation, respite care) by waiving certain statutory requirements under section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act. Thus, depending on the state, Medicaid home health care encompasses an overlapping, but typically more custodial, set of services comparable to those covered by Medicare. [Return to Text]