A physical therapist visits Robert Klaiber, 78, weekly to provide a special type of massage that helps alleviate his symptoms from Parkinson’s disease. Klaiber’s wife, Diane, was under the impression Medicare wouldn’t cover the therapy, which costs $500 or more a month. But earlier this month a neighbor noticed an announcement in a retirement newsletter.
“He showed me this item talking about an important change in the Medicare rules,” she says. “I didn’t know anything about it.”
Klaiber had tripped across important information about the settlement of a class action that should make Robert’s therapy eligible for Medicare coverage. Under the 2012 settlement of Jimmo v. Sebelius, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreed to relax Medicare’s requirements for coverage of skilled nursing and therapy services in institutional or home care settings.