Hospice Facts

There are many benefits to using hospice services. Some of these benefits include:

• Provide medications at no charge to you.
• Furnish hospital beds and medical equipment at no charge to you.
• Visit weekly or regularly to access patient health.
• Help with activities of daily living such as bathing, toileting, feeding, and dressing.
• Offer respite help so family members can get a break.
• Provide a visiting chaplain.
• Offer bereavement support

Hospice Fiction

Hospice is only for those with 6 months to live

Once considered an option for those with 6 months or less to live, some hospice organizations have expanded their scope to include those diagnosed with a terminal disease or a life-limiting illness such as Alzheimer’s or ALS.

Only a doctor can recommend hospice

Typically, a doctor initiates a referral to a hospice organization, but you could contact local hospice groups to find out what they do and when their services would be appropriate. Oftentimes, they will do a site visit and access a patient’s health. Find hospice services near you search the web or go to Medicare.gov.

Hospice will control your care

Hospice is there to provide care and comfort. They do not override the doctor’s instructions. After a consultation, the hospice will recommend ways they can help. You have the power to decide what help you want. Similarly, any wishes you have about your healthcare power of attorney or advance medical directives remain in place. And you always have the power to terminate hospice services if you wish. You are in control of the care given.

Hospice will remove you from your home

Hospice provides home health care at the place you call home. They do not have the facilities to manage care. Hospice can visit  you at home, assisted-living community, nursing home, or retirement community.

Hospice wants to hasten your death

The goal of hospice or palliative care is not to cure the illness but make the patient as comfortable as possible as the disease or terminal illness progresses. Hospice services are not limited to patients who choose to stay at home but also to those in a nursing home or hospital. You continue to take your prescribed medications. Hospice nurses visit weekly to check vitals and assess health. They alert your loved ones and doctors to any health concerns.

Hospice is expensive

Hospice can be non-profit or for-profit. Although some hospice services are eligible regardless of ability to pay, they may be covered under Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurers. According to AARP’s article What you need to know about end of life care, “Medicare and Medicaid typically cover the full cost of hospice services, and private insurance policies generally follow the Medicare model.”

Get the correct hospice facts to help your loved one. Discussions about end-of-life care are helpful before a crisis happens. Know that there is help out there for your family.