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Consumer Information
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Hospice is a philosophy of caring for the terminally ill.
The hospice philosophy holds that end-of-life care should emphasize
quality of life. Hospice is about the living that goes on during
the time between the diagnosis of a life threatening illness and
death.
Hospice is a Medicare and Medicaid benefit. Congress
established the Medicare Hospice Benefit in 1983 to ensure that
all Medicare beneficiaries could access high-quality end-of-life
care. Today, more than eighty percent of hospice patients are Medicare
beneficiaries. The Medicare and Medicaid Hospice Benefits promise
dying Americans a death that is free of pain, along with emotional
and spiritual support.
Hospice is all-inclusive care. The object of hospice
care is to treat the whole person, not the disease. It is family-centered
care that addresses the physical, spiritual, emotional, and practical
needs of a patient with a life-threatening illness. An interdisciplinary
team of health care professional works with the patient and family
to design and implement a plan of care unique to each patient. In
addition to the care provided by the hospice team, hospice provides
all medications, services, and equipment related to the terminal
illness. Hospice care does not end with the patient's death; rather,
it continues with up to 12 months of bereavement counseling for
the family and other loved ones.
Hospice cares for people where they live. Although
there are inpatient hospice facilities and some hospice care is
provided in hospitals or nursing homes, the vast majority of hospice
patients are cared for in their home. Today, 95 percent of hospice
days of care are provided at the patient's residence.
Hospice care is reimbursed on a per diem basis.
The Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for hospice care is a set
rate per day. There are four hospice rates each linked to one of
the four levels of hospice care: routine home care, general inpatient
care, respite care, and continuous care. The routine home care rate,
at which more than 95 percent of all Medicare hospice patients are
billed, is approximately $110 per day.
Patient Information. Hospices now care for over
half of all Americans who die from cancer and a growing number of
patients with other chronic, life-threatening illnesses, such as
end-stage heart or lung disease. America's hospices are leaders
in the caring for terminally ill patients with HIV/AIDS. According
to actual patient counts supplied by National Hospice and Palliative
Care Organization (NHPCO) member hospices, and conservative estimates
for other hospice programs, NHPCO estimates that hospices admitted
950,000 patients in 2003. NHPCO estimates than more than 25 percent
of all Americans who died in 2003 were in hospice care. |
