Respiratory Care Services

80.8 - Respiratory Care Services (Rev. 265, Issued: 01-10-20, Effective: 01-01-20, Implementation: 02-11-20) If a respiratory therapist is used to furnish overall training or consultative advice to HHA staff and incidentally furnishes respiratory therapy services to patients in their homes, the costs of the respiratory therapist's services are allowable only as administrative costs to the HHA. Visits by a respiratory therapist to a patient's home are not separately billable during a HH period of care when a HH plan of care is in effect. However, respiratory therapy services furnished as part of a plan of care other than a home health plan of care by a licensed nurse or physical therapist and that constitute skilled care may be covered and separately billed as skilled visits when the beneficiary is not in a home health period of care. Note that Medicare billing does not recognize respiratory therapy as a separate discipline, but rather sees the services in accordance with the revenue code used on the claims (i.e. 042x).