Home Health Benefit

Certification or Recertification of Medicare Covered Home Health Services

Billing HCPCS Codes G0180 and G0179 of Patient Eligibility for Medicare-covered Home Health Services under a Home Health Plan of Care

Physician certification/recertification for Medicare-covered home health services under a home health plan of care are paid  under the CMS Medicare Part B Physician Fee Schedule. Claims for these services are billed using HCPCS codes G0180 (certification) or G0179 (recertification). The descriptions of these two codes indicate that they are used to bill for certification or recertification of patient eligibility for Medicare-covered home health services under a home health plan of care (patient not present), including contacts with the HHA and review of reports of patient status required by physicians to affirm the initial implementation of the plan of care that meets patient's needs, per certification period.

These codes should not be billed to Medicare if there is not a corresponding Medicare-covered HHA claim that will be billed to Medicare. 

To qualify for the Medicare home health benefit, under Sections 1814(a)(2)(C) and 1835(a)(2)(A) of the Act, a Medicare beneficiary must meet the following requirements:

  • Be confined to the home;
  • Under the care of a physician;
  • Receiving services under a plan of care established and periodically reviewed by a physician;
  • Be in need of skilled nursing care on an intermittent basis or physical therapy or speech-language pathology; or
  • Have a continuing need for occupational therapy.

For purposes of benefit eligibility, under Sections 1814(a)(2)(C) and 1835(a)(2)(A) of the Act, "intermittent" means skilled nursing care that is either provided or needed on fewer than seven days each week or less than eight hours of each day for periods of 21 days or less (with extensions in exceptional circumstances when the need for additional care is finite and predictable).

A patient must meet each of the criteria specified in this section. Patients who meet each of these criteria are eligible to have payment made on their behalf for services discussed in Sections 40 and 50.

G0179 - Physician recertification for Medicare-covered home health services under a home health plan of care (patient not present), including contacts with HHA, and review of reports of patient status required by physicians to affirm the initial implementation of the plan of care that meets patient's needs, per recertification period.

G0180 - Physician certification for Medicare-covered home health services under a home health plan of care (patient not present), including contacts with HHA and review of reports of patient status required by physicians to affirm the initial implementation of the plan of care that meets patient's needs, per certification period.

As noted above, these codes are for physician certification or recertification for Medicare-covered home health services. If there are no Medicare-covered home health services, these codes should not be billed or paid. As such, physician claims for certification/recertification of eligibility for home health services (G0180 and G0179, respectively) will not be covered if the HHA claim itself was noncovered because the certification/recertification of eligibility was not complete or because there was insufficient documentation to support that the patient was eligible for the Medicare home health benefit.

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Reviewed 10/2/2024