Caring for someone at the very end of their life can be exhausting, both physically and emotionally. The goal of hospice care is to make that time easier, for both the patient and their family. The modern hospice movement was created in the late 1960s. It began to gain general acceptance in the late 1970s, and in 1986, it was made a benefit of Medicare.

Who is eligible for Medicare coverage of hospice?

There are two requirements for hospice eligibility:
1. the patient must be entitled to Medicare Part A, and
2. they must be certified by their doctor to have a life expectancy of six months or less, given the normal course of their illness.

That does not mean, however, that the hospice benefit ends after six months. Once the six-month period is over, the patient is eligible for additional hospice care. The extended benefit lasts 60 days, and is renewed automatically, as long as the prognosis remains 6 months or less. That means that people can remain in hospice for years, if they still have a life expectancy of six months or less. Others might leave hospice if they go into remission, with the ability to reenter it if their prognosis ever changes.

What does the Medicare hospice benefit cover?

Medicare covers all care offered by a Medicare-approved provider that is reasonable and necessary to make the patient more comfortable. This care includes:

• Medical services provided by doctors and nurse practitioners
• Nursing care
• Social work services
• Medication for management of symptoms and pain
• Medical supplies
• Short-term inpatient and respite care
• Home health aide services
• Psychological counseling
• Spiritual counseling
• Bereavement counseling

Two important benefits are:

1. Therapies, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy, which are provided for comfort or symptom relief
2. Coverage of all medication related to the illness, for no more than a $5 co-pay. Since pain medication is often extremely expensive, this benefit alone can remove a tremendous amount of stress from the family.

Caring for a loved one at the end of their life is painful enough; hospice exists to make it lessen that pain for everyone.

The compassionate, personalized approach of the Regency Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers has established our long-standing and unparalleled reputation for excellence. But perhaps nowhere is this compassion more on display than in our hospice care.

Hospice is part of our full continuum of care, which also includes exceptional short-term rehabilitation, sub-acute care, long-term nursing, a range of specialty programs and complex clinical services, and temporary respite care. Our compassionate, personalized approach has established our long-standing and unparalleled reputation for excellence.

Our 25 years of excellence have led to us being awarded a Best Nursing Homes award by US News & World Today, a 5-Star rating by USA Today, and an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau, among many other awards.

Contact us by clicking here to discuss hospice or other types of care. You and your loved one deserve the most sensitive care, especially at the most sensitive times.