Rehabbing at home with a little help from Medicare

If you just finished your long awaited surgery and decide to go home but need additional help, Medicare may have help for you. Even if you are not on Medicare your private health insurance might also have provisions for at-home assistance. Here are some descriptions of the types of help available and what they can or will not offer.

First know the types of assistance available and whether they apply to you. The terms in the field are OT (Occupational Therapy), PT (Physical Therapy), and Home Health Care (Skilled Nursing). There is also Non-Medical Home Care which is another category entirely and is not covered by Medicare but, even so, this type of assistance may be very helpful both while you are recovering and beyond.

Medicare can be very specific about what it covers. You might want to check what your orders are before leaving the hospital.

Occupational therapy is a confusing term. The name implies it is intended to provide recovery so you can return to work. That is not necessarily the case. In fact, recipients of OT may be and often are retired or homemakers or disabled and not intending to relearn employment skills. Occupational therapy has to do with being able to perform basic tasks such as dressing and showering. It is task related. If you are working with an occupational therapist you might try to do things in a different way that would otherwise be uncomfortable without assistance. Physical therapy, on the other hand, concerns regaining strength and capacity. You could be lifting weights or stretching.

Some services can overlap. For instance, here are examples from occupational therapy and home health. While OT is

Janet Colliton Columnist