How Is Hospice Care Paid For?

If you have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and qualify medically for hospice services, you may be eligible to receive hospice services.

If you have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and qualify medically for hospice services, you may be eligible to receive hospice services.
Both your hospice physician and your primary physician will need to certify that you have a life-limiting illness (with a projected life expectancy of 6 months or less if the disease runs its natural course.) The patient then signs a statement choosing hospice care instead of other Medicare-covered treatments for their terminal illness and related conditions. At this point, hospice services are billed through Medicare and are covered 100% (no out of pocket expenses).

Hospice includes all nursing and support service visits made by the hospice team members, medications, and any durable medical equipment that is needed.
Oasis Healthcare also accepts Medicaid, private insurances, and is contracted with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Our services include:

On-Call Hospice Support – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Pain Management – Treatments to help with pain and discomfort
Symptom Management – Treatments to aid with anxiety, breathing, nausea and other symptoms
Medication Coordination – Allows proper medication to be available when needed
Registered Hospice Nurses Visits – Scheduled to meet your individualized hospice nursing care plan

Nurse Aide Visits – Scheduled to aid with personal care: bathing, feeding, dressing and other duties
Hospice Team Visits – Hospice counseling, program implementation, insurance coverage, support and follow-up visits
Volunteer Visits – Scheduled for
companionship, errands, and light duties
Bereavement Services – 13-month
bereavement services post-death to all family members and loved ones

When You Made a Choice to Use Hospice Care

When you choose hospice care, you have decided that you no longer want care to cure your terminal illness (aggressive treatments) and/or your doctor has determined that efforts to cure your illness are no longer effective or in the best interest of the patient. It is important to talk with your doctor if you are thinking about getting treatment to cure your illness. As a hospice patient, you always have the right to stop hospice care at any time and resume again later if you choose. Hospice care is intended for people who have received a prognosis of 6 months or less if the disease runs its normal course. You will remain under hospice care service as long as the hospice medical director or other hospice doctor recertifies the terminally ill status and you meet criteria.

Hospice care is structured in benefit periods. You can receive hospice care for two 90-day periods followed by an unlimited number of 60-day periods. At the start of each period, the hospice medical director or hospice nurse practitioner must recertify the terminally ill status to continue to receive services. As long as you remain under this status – hospice can be indefinite. A benefit period starts the day you begin to get hospice care.

Medicare will not cover expenses to live long-term in a skilled nursing facility, assisted living facility, or group home-type of setting. However, if the hospice determines that you need short-term, in-patient care for symptom management reasons or respite care services need to be arranged, Medicare will cover these stays in an inpatient facility.

Please contact us for more information.

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