Hospice Criteria

Palliative care services are available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. There is always a nurse on duty at night and on weekends. The nurse will visit a patient as long and as often as necessary to ensure quality care. Because of this valuable service, many people are under the impression that palliative care is expensive, and believe they can not afford this treatment. But Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies cover palliative care and services. This includes, but is not limited to, drugs, medical supplies, nursing assistants, home care and social services. In 1983, Congress established the Medicare Hospice benefit covered by Medicare Part A, to ensure that all recipients can receive high quality care at the end of life. To receive the benefits of Medicare hospice, the patient must meet three main criteria. First, the patient `s physician must certify in their best clinical judgments that the patient is terminally ill with life expectancy of six months or less. If the patient lives more than six months, he or she may continue to receive palliative care as long as the doctor re-certifies that the patient has a terminal illness and declining health. The second essential criterion is that the patient is ready to receive comfort care instead of curative treatments for their disease. For example, a patient may not receive chemotherapy to cure their illness and palliative care simultaneously. Hospice is designed to be used once cure is no longer an option. Finally, the patient must enroll in a hospice program Medicare approved. This should be one of the first questions you ask to determine the agency to use hospice. Over 90% of U.S. hospitals are certified by Medicare.