Does Medicare Cover a Home Safety Assessment
Use the free tool — Home Safety Walk
The short answer
Medicare may cover an occupational-therapy home assessment — but only when a doctor orders it. This is the real, hands-on inspection: a professional comes to the home and evaluates it in person. Confirm coverage directly with Medicare or the agency before you count on it.
Why this matters
One in four adults over 65 falls each year, and most falls happen at home — on a rug, a step, a dark hallway, a bathroom with nothing to hold. A home safety assessment is meant to catch these hazards before a fall happens, not after.
What Home Safety Walk actually does
Home Safety Walk is a free tool, in English and Spanish. You describe a parent's home room by room, in your own words — or describe the fall that already happened. You get back a prioritized fall-risk fix list:
- What to change this weekend (free or under $30)
- What to buy this month — grab bars, rails, lighting — and roughly what it costs
- What Medicare or a local agency may help with
You can print the list to take to the hardware store, and use it to write down questions for the doctor, the Area Agency on Aging, or the landlord.
What this tool is not
Home Safety Walk is a general guide based on CDC fall-prevention recommendations (CDC STEADI). It has not seen the home and cannot assess it in person. It is not medical advice, it cannot evaluate a person's balance or medications, and it does not replace an occupational-therapy home assessment, which Medicare may cover only when a doctor orders it. For balance problems, dizziness, or medication side effects, talk to their doctor or pharmacist.
A note on privacy
The material doesn't say whether the text you paste is saved. If you're worried about privacy, leave out your parent's name or address when you describe the home or the fall.
What to do next
The free tool reads your own description of the home, room by room, or the fall that already happened — and turns it into a fix list you can act on this weekend, this month, and with a professional's help. It does not replace a doctor-ordered occupational-therapy home assessment. Confirm any Medicare or agency coverage directly with Medicare or the agency.
Home Safety Walk is an informational tool based on public fall-prevention guidance (CDC STEADI). It cannot see the home, assess a person's balance or medications, or replace an occupational-therapy home assessment, which Medicare may cover when ordered by a doctor. Price ranges are typical US retail figures. It is not affiliated with any agency, manufacturer or facility.