The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reminds the Medicare community of the Jimmo Settlement Agreement (January 2014), which clarified that the Medicare program will pay for skilled nursing care and skilled rehabilitation services when a beneficiary needs skilled care in order to maintain function or to prevent or slow decline or deterioration (provided all other coverage criteria are met). Specifically, the Jimmo Settlement adopted a "maintenance coverage standard" for both skilled nursing and therapy services:
  • Skilled nursing services would be covered where such skilled nursing services are necessary to maintain the patient's current condition or prevent or slow further deterioration so long as the beneficiary requires skilled care for the services to be safely and effectively provided.
  • Skilled therapy services are covered when an individualized assessment of the patient's clinical condition demonstrates that the specialized judgment, knowledge, and skills of a qualified therapist ("skilled care") are necessary for the performance of a safe and effective maintenance program. Such a maintenance program to maintain the patient's current condition or to prevent or slow further deterioration is covered so long as the beneficiary requires skilled care for the safe and effective performance of the program.
The Jimmo Settlement may reflect a change in practice for many providers, adjudicators, and contractors, who may have erroneously believed that the Medicare program pays for nursing and rehabilitation only when a beneficiary is expected to improve. The Settlement correctly implements the Medicare program's regulations governing maintenance nursing and rehabilitation in skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and outpatient therapy (physical, occupational, and speech) and maintenance nursing and rehabilitation in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals for beneficiaries who need the level of care that such hospitals provide. These regulations are set forth in the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual.