Does Medicare cover Nursing Homes?

It is mandatory that all employers within the United States withhold a 1.45% tax on earned income, this is known as Medicare tax, it is taken from the employee’s wages. The employers will also match this tax with the same amount of money which has been taken from the employee. This Medicare will eventually go on to cover healthcare for the disabled and elderly within society. The only time that this amount would not be taken from your pay would be if you were self employed. It would then be up to the person who is self employed to ensure that the tax is paid and to cover what would be both halves of the tax, which would equate to around 2.9%, the actual amount that is usually paid is around 2.6%. It is very rare that people are exempt from paying these tax’s and it is usually students that are in receipt of work study programme work which would be entitled not to pay such a tax. It is very important that this tax is paid as this does eventually ensure that you receive the benefit of certain healthcare.

There is a question as to whether a person is able to claim for nursing home care on Medicare. There are a number of factors which are usually taken into consideration before this claim will be authorised. If a doctor decides that a patient is in need of home care and needs medical attention within the home. The elderly person in question MUST also require either skilled services, physical scare, skilled nursing care, occupational therapy or speech therapy. It is imperative that the person in question has at least one if not all of the above. The person in question must be housebound which means that they cannot leave the house without a struggle, so getting to the end of the drive would be a real effort for them. It is worth knowing that Medicare will not pay for home help.

It also does not cover to pay for care which is required by people with chronic health ailments. There are other insurance plans which can be put in place for this sort of care. Before going any further it is well worth checking with your insurer as to what type of cover you are entitled to. There are many websites which can help you find the type of cover you have and whether they cover what you are looking for.