HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS - YOU CAN LEAVE THE NURSING HOME!  (November 2008 Update)

Residents of skilled nursing facilities can leave their facility to attend a family holiday celebration without losing their Medicare coverage! The Medicare Benefit Policy Manual recognizes that although most beneficiaries are unable to leave their facility,

an outside pass or short leave of absence for the purpose of attending a special religious service, holiday meal, family occasion, going on a car ride, or for a trial visit home, is not, by itself evidence that the individual no longer needs to be in a SNF for the receipt of required skilled care.[1]

A facility should not notify patients that leaving the facility will lead to loss of Medicare coverage. Such a notification is "not appropriate," says the Manual.

If the resident returns to the facility by midnight, the facility can bill Medicare for the day’s stay.[2]

If the resident is gone overnight (i.e., past midnight) and returns to the facility the next day, the day the resident leaves is considered a leave of absence day.  While the facility cannot bill Medicare for leave of absence days[3], it is today unclear whether the facility can bill the beneficiary for those days.

As the Center for Medicare Advocacy has reported in prior years, Chapter 6 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual says that the facility cannot bill a beneficiary during a leave of absence.[4]  However, a new provision in Chapter 1 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, issued May 30, 2008, authorizes skilled nursing facilities to bill a beneficiary for bed-hold during a temporary "SNF Absence" if the SNF informs the resident in advance of the option to make bed-hold payments and of the amount of the charge and if the resident "affirmatively elect[s]" to make bed-hold payments prior to being charged.[5]   Whether these apparently contradictory provisions in the Medicare Claims Processing Manual can be reconciled remains to be seen.

Reference: Medicare A manual, under 30.7.3 “Practical Matters”.