Reply to In Patient rehab or going home after Hip replacement?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Physical therapist for 20 years here. A hip fracture is very different than an elective hip replacement. 
Unless he had severe mobility issues, I would vote home. And like PP mentioned, rehab may not be covered. I would guess less than 10% of patients currently go to rehab [b]after a hip fracture[/b].[/quote]

I think you mean after hip replacement.

Medicare expert here. A few things:

1. Medicare does cover inpatient rehab in an inpatient rehab facility or skilled nursing facility after replacement if it is medically necessary. That means a doctor needs to sign off on it. The facility also needs to accept the patient. But IRFs are limited in the number/type of hip replacements they can take (because typically a hip replacement doesn't need the higher intensity/ more expensive care offered by an IRF), so getting an IRF to accept your dad is another hurdle. If he does inpatient rehab, it will very likely be at a SNF, which may not be the kind of care you are seeking.

2. It's very important to know if your dad has traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage. If he has MA, then nothing happens unless the private insurance plan approves it. That will be the biggest hurdle to inpatient rehab in this case.

3. Someone above mentioned "Medicare home health" being of poor quality. Medicare pays for home health care that is furnished by private organizations that are certified as home health agencies. (They also provide care to non- Medicare patients, although the majority of their patients will be over 65.) HHAs hire aides and nurses who visit patients homes. Some HHAs and staff are terrific, others not so much. Traditional Medicare pays either way, so check out Medicare's home health compare website, see if any neighbors/friends have any recs, etc.

https://www.medicare.gov/find-compare-health-care-providers

4. If your dad has Medicare Advantage, he will have to use whatever agency MA plan has contracted with, so little to no choice of provider. [/quote]

PP, such a helpful guide for you to share.

PP, would you ever considering starting a thread here with "5 (or less or more) things to consider when signing up for Medicare" and maybe a little AMA? If not, do you have suggestions of good resources? I am nearly three years away from it and wondering what I should be considering (e.g., I've heard so much about how bad the Advantage programs are, so will not go that route).

Grateful for any suggestions/tips.[/quote]

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