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kamy718 Asked November 2018

Does Medicare cover a nurse to travel with a Dementia patient to another state?

My father is in Chicago and has had a stroke and fallen twice in a month. He is declining rapidly and I need to move him to GA. I am trying to find a way here for him and he will need help on the plane. I want to see if Medicare will cover a nurse to travel with him. He has both part A and B. If so how do I go about requesting the nurse? I have very limited time to get it all done so what ever info you have please share it with me

Countrymouse Nov 2018
Is the time pressure because the Ga NH is holding a place for him?

Do they have any links with specialist transport service providers, perhaps?

Googling "patient transfer from Chicago to Georgia" gets some promising results. Will it be doable for you even if Medicare won't cover it? You can get quotes online, and as these are medical transportation services there shouldn't be extra to pay.

Countrymouse Nov 2018
Well. Let's guess he's been in rehab and is about to be discharged. So he goes from rehab to a permanent placement; and Kamy wants that to be near her; so I suppose she's got this one-time shot at getting Medicare to cover his transfer from rehab to facility, and then all she has to do is convince them that they can stretch the "medically necessary" and "nearest appropriate" rules to cover the facility she's got lined up in Ga.

Kamy rather than me sitting here like a lemon making silly guesses - ! - is your Dad in rehab? Are you working with his discharge team? Do you have somewhere for him to go?
kamy718 Nov 2018
He is in a nursing home. He did not want rehab. We do have a nursing home waiting for him in Brunswick GA. I am trying to get him there. I have called Medicare and they gave me false resources to get me off the phone. No help as of yet/

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gladimhere Nov 2018
CM, It just isn't clear the reason for the move. Isn't the care he needs available where he is?
kamy718 Nov 2018
ALL of our family is in GA other then the sister that is in Chicago. That is the reason for the move so he will have more family support.
Countrymouse Nov 2018
Glad, I think Kamy means she's got to get him transferred stat, rather than that she's too busy to give it her attention, no?
worriedinCali Nov 2018
No it sounds like she wants to move him closer to her and Medicare is not going to pay for that. There are facilities where he is at. It’s not a matter of the closest appropriate facility being too far. Medicare will only pay this is an emergency situation (such as wrecking you car & needing to go to the nearest trauma center which is 60 miles away).
gladimhere Nov 2018
Kamy, why are you moving him if you have little time to deal with this? Having him close to you will require more time and attention toward him much of the time. Is he doing fine in his current environment. Think long and hard before arranging this move which is bound to cause a sudden and rapid decline.

You could contact a Geriatric Care Manager to see if someone would accompany dad. Though Medicare would not cover the cost of that either. Any cost would be paid by your dad.

And as guest said check into how Medicare will work once he is there. Maybe an elder law attorney could advise.

Guestshopadmin Nov 2018
Medicare does not pay to move patients closer to family members. If he’s on Advantage plan it may not cross state line. If time is limited as suggested hire CNA or family member but Medicare won’t pay plane tickets etc to get him closer to you.

Countrymouse Nov 2018
This is from Medicare Interactive (https://www.medicareinteractive.org)

Air ambulance transportation

In limited cases, Medicare Part B covers transportation in an air ambulance. The service must be medically necessary, meaning that you require immediate and rapid ambulance transportation that could not be provided by a ground ambulance. More specifically, the service must be needed either because:
A ground ambulance cannot get to you where you are
Or, there is a great distance to travel or another obstacle involved in getting you to the nearest appropriate facility.

So it looks as if they're not totally opposed to the principle of assisting with transportation issues - though you'd have to do some pretty fast talking. If I were you I'd ring them up and ask for help.

Shane1124 Nov 2018
To my knowledge, no. Medicare will not pay for a nurse to travel with your LO.
Maybe an idea is to offer to pay a friend to fly out to you and back with your dad.

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