Frequently Asked Questions

  • Hospice is compassionate care that focuses on quality of life. Hospice is not used to cure the patients terminal illness, but rather uses an interdisciplinary team that works together to provide expert medical care, symptom management, and emotional support tailored to the patient and their family. Hospice can be provided wherever a patient calls home.

  • Hospice is for people with a life limiting illness who choose to focus on quality of life and is suggested for people who have a life expectancy of six months for less if the disease runs its normal course.

  • Physicians, patients, and families should consider hospice services when medical treatments can no longer cure their disease and/or the symptom burden outweighs the benefits of treatment. Hospice services can begin when a doctor decides the patient’s life expectancy is six months or less. Hospice services are more efficacious if provided for months rather than days or hours. There is general dissatisfaction among families who believe their loved ones were referred to hospice too late. They reported more unmet needs, greater concerns, and lower satisfaction with the overall quality of care.

  • Because hospice is based on a personalized care plan and not a specific location, most patients can choose to receive hospice care in the familiar surroundings of their own home. They can also choose to receive hospice care at a relative’s or a friend’s home, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home. If you are currently hospitalized or need specialized medical assistance, you can also opt to receive care in a hospital.

  • If your illness improves or you wish to seek curative treatment, you are free to leave hospice care whenever you choose.

  • Anyone can make a hospice referral. The patient’s information will be taken and the patient’s doctor contacted to discuss whether an assessment of the patient for hospice is appropriate.

Care

Family

  • Sometimes calling hospice is just to learn more about the benefits of hospice for a loved one (or oneself) with a terminal illness. It can also mean that the patient and family no longer want to pursue curative care, or perhaps a physician has determined that a patient’s life expectancy is six months or less. Patients and families may also discover that medical treatments and interventions are no longer effective, will not cure the disease, and/or will prolong suffering.

    Calling hospice means the patient is transitioning from disease specialists and surgeons to an interdisciplinary healthcare team trained in comfort care, pain management, psychosocial support and quality of life at the end of life.

  • Anyone can request a hospice evaluation. Sometimes the physician makes the referral or provides several options and lets the patient/family decide. The physician must certify to the hospice provider that the patient is eligible and has a prognosis of 6 months or less.

    When a referral is made, one of our team members makes an appointment to meet with the patient and family. The admissions nurse evaluates the patient, answers the family’s questions and creates a plan of care that reflects the patient/family’s wishes.

  • Not at all! When treatment options for a disease have been exhausted or no longer work, hospice provides a way for people to live in comfort, peace and dignity without curative care. Hospice isn’t about giving up, but about improving the quality of the patient’s life by being free of pain, surrounded by family and in the comfort of home.

  • Yes! Family input is important and is the driving force behind developing the most effective plan of care for your loved one.

  • Ideally, a member of our team will be at the bedside at the time of death, able to explain the stages of death, make necessary phone calls, prepare the body and support the family in the first few hours. They will arrange for the body to be removed or, if the family would like to wait, perhaps until a family member arrives, that can be arranged as well.

    If a member of the team is not present at the death, he or she will arrive as soon as you call the hospice provider.

Billing

  • If the patient has Medicare Part A and meets hospice eligibility requirements, then the government will pay as much as 100% of the cost of hospice care. In such a case, there is no deductible and no copayment for the patient. Even if a hospice patient is enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, hospice benefits are covered by original Medicare.

    About 90 percent of hospice patients rely on Medicare and Medicaid to cover their care, and the rest turn to other financing sources, which for most people means private insurance. Most private health plans align with Medicare in their requirements for hospice: A patient must be diagnosed with a terminal illness (indicating a life expectancy of six months or less) and must choose not to receive curative treatment.

    Most people enroll in health insurance plans through an employer or retirement program, while others purchase plans through a private or public exchange. Individuals who do not have Medicare but have coverage from private insurance should contact their health plan directly for specific details on hospice care, including what the patient’s plan will cover and which out-of-pocket costs the patient and their family may be responsible for. Medicaid provides coverage, but it varies by state.

  • Hospice admissions staff work with patients who are not insured to determine financial responsibility, self-payments, and eligibility for other benefits that could help pay for services.

    Hospices employ financial specialists to help find resources for families who do not qualify for federal assistance and do not have insurance. Payment options can include self-pay and charitable organizations.