- Coronavirus.gov is
the source for the latest information about COVID-19 prevention,
symptoms, and answers to common questions.
- CDC.gov/coronavirus has
the latest public health and safety information from CDC and for the
overarching medical and health provider community on COVID-19.
- USA.gov has the latest information
about what the U.S. Government is doing in response to COVID-19.
Medicare wants to help protect you from COVID-19:
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Your health, safety, and welfare in the face of the 2019 Novel
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is our highest priority. According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), older adults and people who have severe
chronic medical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney disease seem to be at
higher risk for more serious COVID-19 illness. This means that most people with
Medicare are at higher risk.
Follow the President's
Coronavirus Guidelines for America
Visit Whitehouse.gov for
the full set of guidelines. Here are some critical ways for you to do your
part:
- Listen to and follow the
directions of your state and local authorities.
- Keep the entire household at
home if someone in your household has tested positive for
coronavirus.
- If you're an older person or if
you're a person with a serious underlying health condition that can put
you at increased risk (like a condition that impairs your lung or heart
function or weakens your immune system), stay home and away from other
people.
Slow the spread of
coronavirus
All of us must do our part to slow the spread of the
Coronavirus. Here's how to help:
- Avoid social gatherings in
groups of more than 10 people.
- Avoid close contact (6 feet, which is about two
arm lengths) with people who are sick.
- Work or engage in schooling
from home whenever possible.
- Avoid eating or drinking at
bars, restaurants, and food courts — use drive-thru, pickup, or delivery
options.
- Avoid discretionary travel,
shopping trips, and social visits.
Hygiene
precautions to take now
- Wash your hands often with soap
and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after being out in public,
blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
- If soap and water aren't
available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- To the extent possible, avoid
touching high-touch surfaces in public places, like elevator buttons,
door handles, handrails, and handshaking with people. Use a tissue or your
sleeve to cover your hand or finger if you must touch something.
- Avoid touching your face, nose,
and eyes.
- Clean and disinfect your home
to remove germs: Practice routine cleaning of frequently touched
surfaces—tables, doorknobs, light switches, handles, desks, toilets,
faucets, sinks and cell phones.
Preparing for
healthcare needs
- Be sure you have
over-the-counter medicines and medical supplies (like tissues) to treat
fever and other symptoms. Most people will be able to recover from
COVID-19 at home.
- Have enough household items and
groceries on hand so that you'll be prepared to stay at home for a period
of time.
Coping with stress
Older people are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19
which may result in increased stress during a crisis. Here are a few things you
can do to cope with that stress:
- Take breaks from watching,
reading, or listening to news stories and social media. Hearing about
the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.
- Take care of your body. Take
deep breaths, stretch, or meditate. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced
meals, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and avoid alcohol and
drugs.
- Make time to unwind. Try to do
some other activities you enjoy.
- Connect with others. Talk with
people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.
- Call your healthcare provider
if stress gets in the way of your daily activities for several days
in a row.
- If you, or someone you care
about, are feeling overwhelmed with emotions like sadness,
depression, or anxiety, or feel like you want to harm yourself or others,
call
- 911
- Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Disaster Distress Helpline:
1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 (TTY: 1-800-846-8517).
Medicare covers related needs
- Medicare covers the lab tests for
COVID-19. You pay no out-of-pocket costs.
- Medicare covers all medically
necessary hospitalizations. This includes if you're diagnosed
with COVID-19 and might otherwise have been discharged from the hospital
after an inpatient stay, but instead you need to stay in the hospital
under quarantine.
- At this time, there's no
vaccine for COVID-19. However, if one becomes available, it will be
covered by all Medicare
Prescription Drug Plans (Part D).
- If you have a Medicare
Advantage Plan, you have access to these same benefits.
Medicare allows these plans to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 lab tests.
Many plans offer additional telehealth benefits beyond the ones described
below. Check with your plan about your coverage and costs.
- Scammers may use the
coronavirus national emergency to take advantage of people while they're
distracted. As always, guard your Medicare card like a credit card, check
Medicare claims summary forms for errors, and if someone calls asking for
your Medicare Number, hang up!
Telehealth &
related services
Medicare has temporarily expanded its coverage of telehealth services to respond to the
current Public Health Emergency. These services expand the current telehealth
covered services, to help you have access from more places (including your
home), with a wider range of communication tools (including smartphones), to
interact with a range of providers (such as doctors, nurse practitioners,
clinical psychologists, and licensed clinical social worker). During this time,
you will be able to receive a specific set of services through telehealth
including evaluation and management visits (common office visits), mental
health counseling and preventive health screenings without a copayment if
you have Original Medicare. This will help ensure you are able to visit
with your doctor from your home, without having to go to a doctor's office or
hospital, which puts you and others at risk of exposure to COVID-19.
- You may be able to communicate
with your doctors or certain other practitioners without necessarily going
to the doctor's office in person for a full visit. Medicare pays for
"virtual
check-ins"—brief, virtual services with your physician or
certain practitioners where the communication isn't related to a medical
visit within the previous 7 days and doesn't lead to a medical visit
within the next 24 hours (or soonest appointment available).
- You need to consent verbally to
using virtual check-ins and your doctor must document that consent in your
medical record before you use this service. You pay your usual Medicare
coinsurance and deductible for these services.
- Medicare also pays for you to
communicate with your doctors using online patient portals without
going to the doctor's office. Like the virtual check-ins, you must
initiate these individual communications.
- If you live in a rural area,
you may use communication technology to have full visits with your
doctors. The law requires that these visits take place at specified sites
of service, known as telehealth originating
sites, and get services using a real-time audio and video
communication system at the site to communicate with a remotely located
doctor or certain other types of practitioners. Medicare pays for many
medical visits through this telehealth benefit.
Other ways Medicare is
helping
Every day, Medicare is responsible for developing and enforcing
the essential health and safety requirements that health care providers must
meet. When you go to a healthcare provider, you expect a certain standard of
care, and we work to make sure you get it. That includes taking additional
steps in response to coronavirus:
- Taking aggressive actions and
exercising regulatory flexibilities to help healthcare providers and
Medicare health plans.
- As part of an effort to
address the urgent need to increase capacity to care for patients,
hospitals can now provide hospital services in other healthcare
facilities and sites that aren't currently considered part of a
healthcare facility. This includes off-site screenings.
- Establishing new codes to
allow providers to correctly bill for services related to diagnosis and
treatment of the illness.
- Instructing our national
network of State Survey Agencies and
Accrediting Organizations to focus all their efforts on infection
prevention and other cases of abuse and neglect in nursing homes and
hospitals.
Instructing nursing
homes and hospitals to review their infection control procedures, which they're
required to maintain at all times.
- Issuing important guidance
answering questions that nursing homes may have with respect to addressing
cases of COVID-19.