Archive for September, 2019
Ask an Attorney: Understanding Medicare’s hospice benefit in cases of terminal illness
Published in The Middletown Press By Robert Scalise
Caring for a loved one during the final stages of life is difficult both physically and emotionally. Thankfully, Medicare can help ease the burden.
Medicare’s hospice benefit covers any care that is reasonable and necessary for easing the course of a terminal illness. It is one of Medicare’s most comprehensive benefits, and can be extremely helpful to both a terminally ill individual and his or her family, but it is little understood and underutilized. Understanding what is offered ahead of time may help Medicare beneficiaries and their families make the difficult decision to choose hospice if the time comes.
The focus of hospice is palliative care, which helps people who are terminally ill and their families maintain their quality of life. Palliative care addresses physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual needs while supporting the terminally ill individual’s independence, access to information, and ability to make choices about health care.
To qualify for Medicare’s hospice benefit, a beneficiary must be entitled to Medicare Part A, and a doctor must certify that the beneficiary has a life expectancy of six months or less. If the beneficiary lives longer than six months, the doctor can continue to certify the patient for hospice care indefinitely.
