- The insured person has been given a life expectancy of six months or less by a physician.
- The care the person is receiving is comfort care only.
- The person has Part A in place.
- The person is enrolled in a Medicare-approved program.
There’s no limit to how long you can receive hospice services, but after two initial 90-day periods, the qualifications have to be confirmed every 60 days. Most private-pay insurance companies also cover hospice care.
Because Medicare has ongoing hospice coverage, hospice fraud is unfortunately common. Criminals sign up a Medicare recipient for hospice without their knowledge and begin receiving payments for “services.” When the insured person goes to file a non-hospice claim, they’re on record as being in hospice care, and their claim is denied. Report any suspected fraud to Medicare.
“Dying isn’t really the focus of hospice care,” Angela Novas, chief medical officer for the Hospice Foundation of America, told AARP. “The focus of hospice is to live well for the remainder of your time, however long that is.” To support people in maintaining that focus, hospice care is palliative care that emphasizes pain and symptom management.
Hospice is a service, not a place. Hospice could even be said to be a team of people, including home health aides, social workers, doctors, nurses, clergy, and sometimes even death doulas. Hospice care also includes caregiver support in the form of counseling and respite care.
But in practice, hospice is about making a person as comfortable and connected as possible during what may be the last days of their lives.
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