Medicare & Insurance

Medicare hospice coverage begins on the first day your hospice benefit is elected. There is no waiting period. Your attending physician and the hospice medical director must both certify that you have a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less.

Electing the Medicare Hospice Benefit means shifting the focus from curative treatment to comfort and quality of life. Patients continue to receive medications, nursing visits, aide services, and symptom support. Patients who wish to pursue curative treatment again may leave hospice at any time.

Yes. The Medicare Hospice Benefit covers care wherever the patient lives, whether that is a private residence, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home.

Once you elect the Medicare Hospice Benefit, Medicare generally stops paying for treatments intended to cure your terminal illness. It does not cover room and board in a nursing facility or assisted living, though it does cover hospice services provided there. Medicare will continue to cover treatments for conditions unrelated to your terminal diagnosis.

Coverage is provided in benefit periods: two initial 90-day periods, followed by unlimited 60-day periods. A physician must recertify eligibility at the start of each period. After the second 90-day period, a hospice physician or nurse practitioner must conduct a face-to-face visit with the patient before each recertification.