Medicare Hospice Benefits
March 26, 2009 by RickBryan
Here’s a pamphlet (at the bottom) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services which explains the benefits of the Medicaid program for people who are terminally ill. The program is is known as Medicare Hospice Benefits, and unfortunately is one of the most underutilized of all the Medicare programs, especially in New York. If you’re not familiar with the term, here’s how several authors writing for The New York Academy of Medicine define Hospice:
Hospice is a program of care for persons in the last phases of an incurable disease and their families or caregivers. Eligibility for this benefit is predicated on a physician’s estimate of prognosis of 6 months or less and the presence of one or more progressive illnesses. The goal of hospice is to manage the physical, psychological, spiritual, social, and practical issues that present as a result of the dying process and continue for the family in the yearlong bereavement period that follows death. Hospice is provided in both home and facility-based settings by an interdisciplinary team of professionals—physicians, nurses, medical social workers, therapists, counselors, and volunteers—who coordinate an individualized plan of care for each patient and family.
An excellent summary of the program is provided by the Elder Law Answers website:
What the Hospice Benefit Covers
Medicare will cover any care that is reasonable and necessary for easing the course of a terminal illness. The Medicare Hospice Benefit provides for:
* Physician services
* Nursing care
* Medical appliances and supplies
* Drugs for symptom management and pain relief
* Short-term inpatient and respite care
* Homemaker and home health aide services
* Counseling
* Social work service
* Spiritual care
* Volunteer participation
* Bereavement servicesServices are considered appropriate if they are aimed at improving the patient’s life and making her more comfortable. Physical, occupational and speech therapy, and even chemotherapy, may be covered if they are for comfort, not cure.
Checkout the pamphlet and give it a casual read. Very few advisors are aware of this important program; you’ll be doing a great service by passing this information along to your clients and colleagues.
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