Insurance

Medicare and Medicaid

• Currently, most hospice patients have their costs covered by Medicare, through the Medicare Hospice Benefit.
• Medicaid provides additional benefits for low-income patients or patients without Medicare. Some patients may receive benefits from both agencies through their hospice agency.
• Medicaid provides benefits that are very similar to Medicare Hospice Benefits.

Whether a patient is eligible for hospice benefits may vary depending on who is covering the cost of care. Currently, most hospice care in the US is covered by the Medicare Part A Hospice Benefit, which requires:

• Patients to be diagnosed with a terminal illness, and
• Be 65 years or older, and
• Have the patient’s doctor and a hospice medical director certify that the patient has six months or less to live.
• Many other hospice benefits programs follow these same guidelines set by Medicare.