The term hospice refers to treatment, services, and care for people who have an illness and are not expected to live longer than 6 months.

Making decisions about hospice care, whether for yourself or someone you love, is not easy. Getting direct answers about what hospice costs and how you can pay for it may make a difficult decision a little clearer.

Original Medicare(Medicare Part A and Part B) does pay for hospice care, as long as your hospice provider is enrolled in the program and accepts Medicare coverage. A Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan will also cover hospice care.

如果您正在寻找关于医疗保险的临终关怀，提供商和服务的具体答案，本文将帮助您回答这些问题。

Medicare covers hospice once a medical doctor certifies that you have an illness that makes it unlikely you will live longer than 6 months.

To get this coverage, you must sign a statement that confirms:

  • you want palliative care
  • you don’t intend to continue seeking treatments to cure the illness
  • you choose hospice care instead of other Medicare-approved services to treat your illness

如果您（或亲人）接受过临终关怀护理，这意味着您的医生已经证明您的预期寿命为6个月或更短时间。但是，有些人藐视期望。

At the end of 6 months, Medicare will keep paying for hospice care if you need it. The hospice medical director or your doctor will need to meet with you in person and re-certify that your life expectancy is still not longer than 6 months.

Medicare将支付两个90天的福利期。之后，您可以重新认证为无限数量的60天福利时期。在任何福利期间，如果您想更改临终关怀提供商，您有权这样做。

There are many different parts Medicare. Each part provides coverage for different items and services. Here is a breakdown of the role each part of Medicare may play in covering your hospice care:

  • Medicare Part A.部分A.pays for hospital costs, should you need to be admitted to care facility for your symptoms or to give your caregivers a short break.
  • Medicare Part B.B部分covers outpatient medical and nursing services, medical equipment, and other treatment services.
  • Medicare Part C.如果你有一个Medicare Advantageplan, it will remain in effect as long as you’re paying premiums, but you won’t need them for your hospice expenses. Original Medicare pays for those. Your Medicare Part C plans can still be used to pay for treatments that are not related to the terminal illness or aren’t covered by original Medicare.
  • Medicare supplement (Medigap).Medigapplans can help with costs unrelated to the terminal illness. You won’t need these benefits to help cover hospice expenses, since those are paid for by original Medicare.
  • Medicare D.您的D.prescription drug coverage will still be in effect to help you pay for medications that are unrelated to the terminal illness. Otherwise, medications to help treat symptoms or manage the pain of a terminal illness are covered through your original Medicare hospice benefit.

Original Medicare pays for a wide range of services, supplies, and prescriptions related to the illness that caused you to seek hospice care, including

  • 医生和护理服务
  • physical,职业， 和演讲therapy services
  • medical equipment，喜欢沃克和医院病床
  • nutrition counseling
  • 处方药物您需要缓解症状或控制疼痛
  • 短期住院护理，帮助您管理疼痛或症状
  • social work services and grief counseling for both patient and family
  • 短期休息护理（一次最多5天）允许您的照顾者休息，如果您在家里照顾

If you are receiving hospice benefits,Medicare Part A仍将支付您可能拥有的其他无缘疾病和条件。你也可以保持你的医疗保险优势计划while you’re receiving hospice benefits in case there is additional coverage you’d like to continue using.

To find a hospice care provider in your area, try thisagency finder来自Medicare。

How much hospice care costs depends on the type of illness and how early patients enter hospice. In 2018, theSociety of Actuariesestimated that hospice patients with cancer received Medicare Part A and Part B benefits totaling around $44,030 during the last 6 months of their lives.

除了在家临终关怀护理外，该图还包括住院病院治疗费用。

好消息是，医疗保险下没有临终关怀护理的扣除。

Some prescriptions and services may have copays. Prescriptions for pain medications or symptom relief may carry a $5 copay. There may be a 5 percent copay for inpatient respite care if you are admitted to an approved facility, so your caregivers can rest.

除了这些实例之外，您不必为您的临终关怀服务支付。

While Medicare covers most items and services you’ll need during hospice, there are a few things it won’t cover, such as:

  • 治疗终端疾病的任何治疗方法。这包括治疗和处方地中海ications that are intended to cure you. If you decide you want treatments to cure your illness, you can stop hospice care and pursue those treatments.
  • Services from a hospice provider that were not arranged by your hospice care team.您收到的任何护理都必须由您和您的团队选择的临终关怀提供商提供。即使您收到相同的服务，Medicare也不会涵盖提供商不是您和您的临终关怀团队命名的一个成本。如果您选择监督您的临终关怀护理，您仍然可以访问您的常规医生或其他医疗保健专业人士。
  • 房间和董事会费用。If you are receiving hospice care at home, in a nursing home, or in an inpatient hospice facility, Medicare won’t cover the cost of room and board.
  • Care at an outpatient hospital facility.Medicare将不会支付给医院的救护车运输或您在门诊医院环境中收到的任何服务，例如急诊室，除非与您的终端疾病无关，或者您的临终诊断团队已安排。

诊所的诊所呢？

失智是一种缓慢的疾病。在以后的阶段，患有痴呆症的人可能会失去正常运作的能力，需要日常护理。

Hospice will only be covered when a physician certifies that the person has a life expectancy of 6 months or less. That usually means that a secondary illness like pneumonia or sepsis has occurred.

如果您有原始Medicare覆盖范围并正在考虑临终关怀护理，Medicare临终关怀福利将支付您需要的护理费用。

您需要一名医生证明您的预期寿命不超过6个月，您将需要签署一份声明，接受临终关怀护理和停止治疗旨在治愈疾病的治疗。如果您已达到这些要求，您的医生和护理，处方以及一系列其他支持服务将被覆盖。

One important exception to note: Original Medicare does not pay for room and board for hospice patients, so long-term residence in a nursing home or skilled nursing facility won’t be covered as part of a hospice benefit.