(a) Every disability insurer transacting business in this state shall, on or after January 1, 1979, make available and offer to include in every group disability policy providing hospital, medical or surgical expense benefits payable on an expense incurred basis, to be delivered or issued for delivery in this state, benefits for home health care as set forth in this section provided by a licensed home health agency subject to the right of the group policyholder to reject the benefits or to select any alternative level of benefits as may be offered by the insurer.

In rural areas where there are no licensed health agencies or in which the supply of home health agency services does not meet the needs of the community, the services of visiting nurses, if available, may be substituted for the services of the home health agency, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in subdivision (c).

(b) Every self-insured employee welfare benefit plan containing hospital, medical, or surgical expense benefits or service benefits delivered on or after January 1, 1979, shall make available and offer to include benefits for home health care as set forth in this section provided by a licensed home health agency subject to the right of the employer or the employee organization to reject the benefits or accept any alternative level of benefits as may be offered by the self-insured welfare benefit plan.

In rural areas where there are no licensed health agencies or in which the supply of home health agency services does not meet the needs of the community, the services of visiting nurses, if available, may be substituted for the services of the home health agency, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in subdivision (c).

(c) As used in this section:

(1) “Home health care” means the continued care and treatment of an insured person who is under the direct care and supervision of a physician but only if (i) continued hospitalization would have been required if home health care were not provided, (ii) the home health treatment plan is established and approved by a physician within 14 days after an inpatient hospital confinement has ended and such treatment plan is for the same or related condition for which the insured person was hospitalized, and (iii) home health care commences within 14 days after the hospital confinement has ended. “Home health services” consist of, but shall not be limited to, the following: (i) part-time or intermittent skilled nursing services provided by a registered nurse or licensed vocational nurse; (ii) part-time or intermitent home health aide services which provide supportive services in the home under the supervision of a registered nurse or a physical, speech or occupational therapist; (iii) physical, occupational or speech therapy; and (iv) medical supplies, drugs and medicines prescribed by a physician and related pharmaceutical services, and laboratory services to the extent such charges or costs would have been covered under the policy if the insured person had remained in the hospital.

(2) “Home health agency” means a public or private agency or organization licensed by the State Department of Health Services in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 1725) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code.

(d) The policy may contain a limitation on the number of home health visits for which benefits are payable, but the number of such visits shall not be less than 100 in any calendar year or in any continuous 12-month period for each person covered under the policy. Except for a home health aide, each visit by a representative of a home health agency shall be considered as one home health visit. A visit of four hours or less by a home health aide shall be considered as one home health visit.

(e) Home health care benefits may be subject to an annual deductible of not more than fifty dollars ($50) for each person covered under a policy, and may be subject to a coinsurance provision which provides coverage of not less than 80 percent of the reasonable charges for such services.

(f) Nothing in this section shall preclude an insurer or plan offering other health care benefits provided in the home.

(Added by Stats. 1978, Ch. 1130.)