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Home Health Care is skilled nursing care and certain other health care services that you get in your home for the treatment of an illness or injury. This page explains Medicare’s basic home health benefit and gives you information about where to get more information and help.

All Medicare beneficiaries can receive home health care benefits. This page describes home health care benefits covered by the Original Medicare Plan.

To get Medicare home health care:

1. Your doctor must decide that you need medical care in your home, and make a plan for your care at home; and
2. You must need at least one of the following: intermittent (and not full time) skilled nursing care, or physical therapy or speech language pathology services; and
3. You must be homebound. This means that you are normally unable to leave home. Being homebound means that leaving home is a major effort. When you leave home, it must be infrequent, for a short time, or to get medical care; and
4. The home health agency caring for you must be approved by the Medicare program.

You must meet all four of these conditions for Medicare to cover home health care.