We are here to help and empower you to make the best decisions for
you and your family. We realize that most people who visit this site
are looking for answers to challenging questions.
Where is hospice care received?
Hospice care is received wherever the patient is living. Hospice care can take place in a patient’s home, a nursing home, assisted living facility, independent living facility, hospital, group home, or the Angela Hospice Care Center.


When is the right time to consider hospice care – and who should make the decision?
At any time during a life-limiting illness it is appropriate to consider all of a patient’s care options, including hospice. By law the decision belongs to the patient. Hospice care is premium qualityfort care specifically for patients with a terminal illness. The essential criteria for electing hospice care is:

A physician and hospice medical director’s certification that a patient is terminally ill
-and-
If the terminal illness runs its natural course, life expectancy is six months or less

Many physicians are concerned about the difficulty predicting a six month life expectancy. As
a result, a majority of patients are referred to hospice care when actual life expectancy is only weeks or days (a period many physicians feel they can more easily judge). Although all
patients receiving hospice care experience high quality comfort care as soon as hospice begins,
those patients receiving it at a more advanced point in their disease do not receive as many of the benefits of hospice care as those referred earlier in the progression of disease. Perhaps this is the reason recent studies have shown that patients who receive hospice care earlier in their diagnosis typically live longer and more pain free lives than those who receive it later. For more information on this subject, see the section entitled “Is it time for hospice?”


Do we have to stop treatment of the disease if we choose hospice care?
Hospice care is comfort care for terminally ill patients. One criteria for selection of hospice care under Medicare guidelines is the choice to forego treatments and medicines intended to cure the diagnosed terminal illness. For many with terminal illnesses, choosing to forego physically
distressing treatments or medicines which may disrupt sleep and eating patterns is often a
relief in itself. This guideline, however, does not mean that treatment is discontinued for medical
conditions which are not part of the terminal illness. Those treatments are typically covered under Medicare Part B or the patient’s secondary health care plan.


Who pays for hospice care?
Hospice care is covered by most private insurers and HMO’s. In addition, it is a Medicare Part A benefit to all eligible Medicare recipients age 65 and older. As a result, Medicare pays for all hospice-covered benefits, including costs for the interdisciplinary medical team (services of the doctor, nurses, social workers, hospice aides), costs for medical supplies and equipment (such as wheelchairs, walkers, bandages and catheters), as well as medications for symptom control and pain relief – all related to their hospice diagnosis. The only hospice related expense not covered by Medicare would be room and board if the patient is living in a nursing home or hospice residential facility – such as our Angela Hospice Care Center. In addition, Medicaid eligible patients and some with hospice coverage in their private health insurance may receive additional benefits such as reimbursement or coverage for room and board.


Isn’t considering hospice care like giving up hope?
Because hospice care is designed for terminally ill patients, many family members feel broaching the subject of hospice is like admitting defeat or losing hope for a cure or a miracle of healing from a terminal disease. Since it is possible to leave hospice care if a cure or new treatment for a disease is found, hope for that solution can endure throughout much of the hospice process. Indeed, while in hospice care, patients’ diseases have been known stabilize or stop progressing. Some patients have recovered to the point of leaving hospice to carry on with their normal daily lives. At the same time, while in hospice care, many families find their hope does not dissipate, but becomes redirected. They begin to change the things they hope for. Perhaps they find new hope that longstanding pain and suffering can be reduced, or a hope to spend good quality time with their family, or hope to attend an upcoming family event, or find closure to strained relationships or unfinished business. With pain well-managed, new hopes can finally emerge.


Can a patient leave hospice care if a cure is found or new curative treatments are desired?
Yes. A patient always retains the right to leave or discontinue hospice care.