Medicare hospice care - common question

Does the Benefit cover continuous care (a special level of hospice care) at home?


Yes. If there is a brief, acute episode that requires
additional care to manage pain or acute medical symptoms,
nursing care may be covered on a continuous
basis to maintain the patient at home. Skilled nursing
or home health aide services — or a combination of
both — may be covered on a 24-hour basis during
periods of crisis, but care during these periods must be
predominantly nursing care.

Does the Benefit cover general inpatient care
that may be needed as a result of a crisis or an
acute episode that cannot be handled in a
patient’s primary residence?
If a hospice inpatient admission is necessary for the
patient, the hospice team will arrange for the patient’s
stay in a freestanding hospice facility, a hospital, a
nursing home, or other long-term care facility, which
is covered by Medicare.

Is there any relief for loved ones whose responsibility
it is to care for the hospice patient?
Caregivers, who are family members or other loved
ones responsible for taking care of the hospice patient,
may, on occasion, need a break, or “respite,” from daily caregiving. To give the caregiver relief, respite care
may be provided in a Medicare-approved facility such
as a freestanding hospice facility, a hospital, a nursing
home or other long-term care facility, which is covered
by Medicare for up to five days at a time.