A fall can shake your confidence behind the wheel even after your body heals. That reaction is normal, and it's worth taking seriously instead of guessing. The way to find out if you're actually ready is a specific kind of occupational therapy evaluation, and Medicare will help pay for it, but only if the referral is framed the right way from the start.
Medicare draws a sharp line here. It will not pay for an assessment whose only purpose is to decide whether you should be driving at all. It will pay for occupational therapy that helps you regain a specific skill your fall affected, like reaction time, neck turning, or leg strength for braking, with driving as part of that recovery.
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Why 'Can I Still Drive?' Isn't a Covered Question on Its Own
Medicare's rule is specific: an assessment performed only to disqualify you from driving is not a covered benefit, no matter how reasonable the question feels. What is covered is occupational therapy aimed at a real, identified problem the fall caused, with a reasonable expectation that therapy can get you back to driving.
That distinction changes how you talk to your doctor. Instead of asking "am I safe to drive," describe exactly what the fall affected, slower reaction time, trouble turning your neck to check blind spots, weaker leg strength for braking, so the referral has something specific for therapy to work on.
How to Get the Evaluation Itself Covered
Once you have a referral, Medicare Part B covers the occupational therapy sessions as outpatient therapy, the same way it covers other post-fall occupational therapy, as long as a plan of care is in place and the therapy is tied to your actual injury. The therapist can include compensatory driving training, like practicing the specific movements or reaction tasks your fall affected, inside that plan.
If your plan of care shows a reasonable expectation that you'll regain the ability to drive safely after treatment, the sessions are covered the same as any other outpatient occupational therapy. If the only goal on paper is determining whether you can drive, with no treatment plan behind it, that part isn't covered.
Make sure rides, meals, and follow-up help are covered.
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Organize rides, meals, pickups, and check-ins with dates, helpers, and follow-up timing.
Checklist
Before you ask your doctor for a referral
A specific description gets you a covered referral faster than a general worry does.
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Checklist
Confirm these before your first session
A quick confirmation call avoids a surprise bill later.
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Timeline
Cover the gap in order
Check each step off as you lock it in.
Ask one or two people directly rather than hoping someone offers.
Medication pickups and follow-up visits should be arranged, not left to chance.
Update your ride plan based on what the therapist says at your next check-in, not your own guess.
Save your status, what you confirmed with your doctor, and your ride plan for the gap.
While You're Not Driving Yet
Not driving for a few weeks shouldn't mean missing medication pickups or follow-up visits. Treat the gap as a short, planned stretch rather than an open-ended problem, and put the actual logistics on paper now.
If the fall itself is still fresh, After a Fall: A First-Week Recovery Plan covers the broader recovery steps this one doesn't, including appointments and household adjustments beyond driving.
If an occupational therapist also needs to walk through your home itself, Getting Medicare to Pay for an Occupational Therapist's Home Safety Visit covers that separate, related benefit.
