Make the end-of-life journey memorable with quality care
Get relief from symptoms of serious illnesses with a team of trained specialists
A common inquiry surrounding hospice is the cost of receiving this specialty care during the end of life's journey. Medicare is the largest insurer of medical care provided at the end of life but hospice care is covered by other government and private entities. Some questions you may have surrounding the cost of hospice care are:
During an already difficult and stressful time, hospice provides relief to the patient from painful symptoms and to families or caregivers from the monetary burden of healthcare. Hospice care is covered by various government entities, including Medicare, Medicaid and other healthcare programs such as the one sponsored by the Veterans Administration (VA) as well as private medical and long-term care insurance. Medicare is the largest insurer of medical care provided at the end of life.
Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Medicare Part B (medical insurance) require that all medically necessary hospital and doctor care is paid for by Medicare, regardless of the cost or condition of the patient. The Medicare hospice benefit has paid for the care of eligible patients since 1982.
A patient must have Medicare Part A and meet all of the following conditions in order to be eligible to receive this benefit:
Be diagnosed with a terminal illness
Be certified by a doctor that life expectancy is six months or less
Accept comfort care instead of curative care
Have a Medicare-approved hospice provider
Depending on your terminal illness and related conditions, the plan of care your hospice team creates can include any or all of these services:
Once a patient chooses hospice care, almost all the bills related to care of the patient’s terminal diagnosis are paid for by their health insurance. At Hospice of Southwest Ohio, we do a prior authorization application for all patients to determine whether we take your insurance or not. If we don't take your insurance, we will see if we can obtain partial coverage or determine what we need to do to get credentialed so that we can take your insurance. The patient and family can rest easier knowing they are receiving excellent care without worrying about how to pay for it.
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