What Is Hospice And How To Pay For Hospice Care

In my work helping clients plan for end-of-life healthcare, I’m often asked about Hospice care.

There seems to be confusion on end-of-life care and hospice. Let me clear that up…

Palliative Care

Hospice care provides essential comfort-focused support at the end of life. It is a form of palliative care, which focuses on comfort rather than cure. Patients enter hospice when treatment no longer works or when they choose to stop it. Many decide that treatment side effects outweigh the benefits.

Doctors typically recommend hospice when a patient has six months or less to live. However, some patients receive hospice care for longer periods. A physician often makes the referral, but anyone can request hospice care. Family members, friends, clergy, or caregivers can all start the process.

Hospice Is Available To Everyone in End-of-Life

Hospice care is available to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. In most cases, Medicare and Medicaid fully cover hospice services. Many private insurance plans also provide coverage. This includes HMOs, PPOs, and other health plans.

If you have private insurance, your hospice provider can verify your benefits. They will contact your insurance company and explain what is covered. This helps you understand costs before care begins.

Hospice programs focus on access and dignity for every patient. Because of this, many providers offer care even without insurance coverage. They often use charitable funding or sliding-scale support to serve those in need.

To ease both the patient’s and family’s concerns, the hospice admissions staff and social workers try to ensure that payment issues are handled in an uncomplicated manner. The hospice philosophy is that payment for services should not be a concern.

Four Levels Of Hospice Care

All Medicare-certified hospices are required to offer 4 levels of hospice care depending on patient and caregiver needs. Level of care is one of the many important things to consider when choosing a hospice.

Routine home care

• Most common level of care in hospice. Patient is generally stable and the patient’s symptoms, like pain or nausea and vomiting, are adequately controlled.
• Usually provided in the home.

General inpatient care

• Crisis-like level of care for short-term management of out-of-control patient pain and/or symptoms
• Usually provided outside the home, in an inpatient setting at a medical facility like a hospital or skilled nursing facility.

Continuous home care

• Crisis-like level of care for short-term management of out-of-control patient pain and/or symptoms
• Usually provided in the home.

Respite care

• A level of temporary care provided in nursing home, hospice inpatient facility, or hospital so that a family member or friend who’s the patient’s caregiver can take some time off.
• This level of care is tied to caregiver needs, not patient symptoms.

End-of-Life Care Is An Important Part Of Estate Planning

One of the most important aspects of estate planning is providing for and considering pre-hospice end-of-life healthcare needs. You’ll want to have a Medical Directive in place and assign someone to make important healthcare decisions should you be unable to communicate. While hospice care is available to everyone, if something should happen that would require long-term care before hospice would be available, these things can be addressed in an estate plan while you are of sound mind and body. If you would like to discuss the creation of an estate plan, call my office today a at 404-370-0696.n

Looking to find an experienced estate lawyer in the Georgia area who is skilled in asset protection and estate plan preparation? Shannon Pawley is an attorney in Georgia with expertise in estate planning and asset protection. Shannon can provide assistance with creating an estate plan to include making a will and how to establish a trust properly. If you have questions about asset protection or questions about making an estate plan, reach out to Shannon and she will be glad to help answer all the estate planning questions you might have!