In-home support services and adult day care services are on the list of supplemental benefits to be allowed under Medicare Advantage plans in 2019, according to a recent CMS memo.
 
Home-based palliative care, support for caregivers of enrollees, medically-approved non-opioid pain management, stand-alone memory fitness benefit, home bathroom safety devices and modifications, transportation and over-the-counter benefits are also on the list.
 
CMS notes, however, that the list is not exhaustive.
 
Supplemental benefits, “must focus directly on an enrollee’s health care needs and be recommended by a licensed medical professional as part of a care plan, if not directly provided by one,” the memo states.
 
Starting in CY 2019, “CMS is expanding the definition of “primarily health related” to consider an item or service as primarily health related if it is used to diagnose, compensate for physical impairments, acts to ameliorate the functional/psychological impact of injuries or health conditions, or reduces avoidable emergency and healthcare utilization.”
 
Related link: View the CMS memo at https://bit.ly/2I9K0qf.