Paying for Your Care

Find out more about how hospice services are paid for below.

Medicare

The Medicare hospice benefit includes these items and services to reduce pain or disease severity and manage the terminal illness and related conditions:

Services from a hospice physician, nurse practitioner (NP), or other physicians chosen by the patient
Nursing care
Medical equipment
Medical supplies
Drugs to manage pain and symptoms
Hospice aide and homemaker services
Physical therapy
Occupational therapy
Speech-language pathology services
Medical social services
Dietary counseling
Spiritual counseling
Individual and family or just family grief and loss counseling before and after the patient’s death
Short-term inpatient pain control and symptom management and respite care

Hospice is a comprehensive, holistic program of care and support for terminally ill patients and their families. Hospice care changes the focus to comfort care (palliative care) for pain relief and symptom management instead of care to cure the patient’s illness.

Patients with Medicare Part A can get hospice care benefits if they meet the following criteria:

They get care from a Medicare-certified hospice
Their attending physician (if they have one) and the hospice physician certifies them as terminally ill, with a medical prognosis of 6 months or less to live if the illness runs its normal course
They sign an election statement to elect the hospice benefit and waive all rights to Medicare payments for the terminal illness and related conditions

Source: medicare.gov

Private Insurance

The Hospice benefit is an optional state plan service that includes an array of services furnished to terminally ill individuals. These services include:

Nursing,
Medical social services,
Physician services,
Counseling services to the terminally ill individual and the family members or others caring for the individual at home,
Short-term inpatient care,
Medical appliances and supplies,
Home health aide and homemaker services,
Physical therapy,
Occupational therapy and
Speech-language pathology services.

Individuals must elect the hospice benefit by filing an election statement with a particular hospice. They must acknowledge that they understand that other Medicaid services for the cure or treatment of the terminal condition are waived. Individuals may, however, revoke the election of hospice at any time and resume receipt of the Medicaid-covered benefits waived when hospice was elected.

A hospice provider must obtain a physician certification that an individual is terminally ill and hospice services must be reasonable and necessary for the palliation or management of the terminal illness and related conditions. A hospice plan of care must be established before services are provided.

Medicaid

Source: medicaid.gov

Many work-based and private insurance plans provide some coverage for hospice care. The Admissions Team at Hospice of the Plains will check with your insurance company to ensure coverage and eligibility, disclosing all information prior to admission .

For people who are not insured, or who may not have full coverage for hospice services, Hospice of the Plains is a community based, not for profit provider who is committed to providing care to those who need it regardless of their ability to pay.