HHA Triggering Events

HHAs may be required to provide an ABN to an Original Medicare beneficiary when a triggering event occurs. Table 2, below, outlines triggering events specific to HHAs.

 Event Description 

Initiation    When an HHA expects that Medicare will not cover an item and/or service delivered under a planned course of treatment from the start of a spell of illness, OR before the delivery of a one-time item and/or service that Medicare is not expected to cover.

Reduction When an HHA expects that Medicare coverage of an item or service will be reduced or stopped during a spell of illness while continuing others, including when one home health discipline ends but others continue.

Termination When an HHA expects that Medicare coverage will end for all items and services in total.

•  HHA Initiations  

The HHA must issue a beneficiary an ABN prior to delivering care that is usually covered by Medicare,
but in this particular instance, the item or service may not be or is not covered by Medicare because:
−  The care is not medically reasonable and necessary;
−  The beneficiary is not confined to his/her home (is not considered homebound);
−  The beneficiary does not need skilled nursing care on an intermittent basis; or
−  The beneficiary is receiving custodial care only.
 Note: If the HHA believes that Medicare will not (or may not) pay for care for a reason other than
ones listed directly above, issuance of the ABN is not required.
 
INITIATION EXAMPLE: A beneficiary requires skilled nursing wound care 3 times weekly; however, she is not confined to the home. She wants the care done at her home by the HHA.  The HHA must issue the ABN to this beneficiary before providing the home care that will not be paid for by Medicare. This allows the beneficiary to make an informed decision on whether to receive the non-covered care, and to accept the financial obligation.

An ABN, signed at initiation of home health care for items and/or services not covered by Medicare, is effective for up to a year; as long as the items/services being given remain unchanged from those listed on the notice.

•  HHA Reductions  
Reductions involve any decrease in services or supplies, such as frequency, amount, or level of care that an HHA provides and/or that is part of the Plan of Care (POC). If a reduction occurs for an item or service that will no longer be covered by Medicare, but the beneficiary wants to continue to receive the item or service and will assume the financial charges, the HHA must issue the ABN prior to providing the noncovered items or services. (Technically, this is an initiation of noncovered services following a reduction of services).  

REDUCTION WITH SUBSEQUENT INITIATION EXAMPLE: A beneficiary requires Physical Therapy (PT) for gait retraining 5 times per week for 2 weeks, then reduce to 3 times weekly for 2 weeks.  After 2 weeks of PT, the beneficiary wants to continue therapy 5 times a week even though this amount of therapy is no longer medically reasonable and necessary. The HHA would issue an ABN so that he understands the situation and can consent to financial responsibility for the PT not covered by
Medicare.

•  HHA Terminations  
A termination is the cessation of all HHA-provided Medicare covered services. If a beneficiary wants to continue receiving home health care that will not be covered by Medicare for any of the statutory reasons listed in Table 1 and a physician orders the services; the HHA must issue the beneficiary an ABN in order to charge the beneficiary or a secondary insurer. If the beneficiary will not be getting any further home care after discharge, there is no need for ABN issuance.

When all Medicare covered home health care is terminated, HHAs may sometimes be required to deliver the Notice of Medicare Provider Non-Coverage, (NOMNC), CMS-10123. The NOMNC informs beneficiaries of the right to an expedited determination by a Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) if they feel that termination of home health services is not appropriate. Detailed information and instructions for issuing the NOMNC can be found on the CMS website under the link for “FFS ED Notices” at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-General-Information/BNI/index.html on the CMS website.  

If a beneficiary requests a QIO review upon receiving a NOMNC, the QIO will make a fast decision on whether covered services should end. If the QIO decides that Medicare covered care should end and the beneficiary wishes to continue receiving care from the HHA even though Medicare will not pay, an ABN must be issued since this would be an initiation of non-covered care.