COMMENTARY

Post Date: November 4, 2005

There When You Need It: An Introduction to Hospice Care

by Frank Eppinette
 

Hospice care is a wonderful service to those who have a life-limiting illness and to their families. Hospice provides more than nurses, home health aides, chaplains and social workers; it provides caring people who view hospice as more than a job. Hospice is a ministry of help, support, love, and prayer—a ministry of compassion—for those who are taking the final journey of life. Nothing could be harder than to walk this path alone, and hospice is there for both patient and family. 

Hospice provides not only a well-trained, highly qualified staff for each patient, but also provides any medical equipment and other necessary supplies the patient might need. In addition, hospice provides medications related to the life-limiting illness, and any medication needed to keep the patient comfortable and pain free.  

An estimated 950,000 patients and their families where served by hospice in 2003. In order for a patient to be admitted to a hospice program, the patient’s doctor must certify that if the disease runs its normal course, the patient has 6 months or less of life. It is thought by many that Medicare provides only 6 months of hospice, and therefore enrollment should be delayed as long as possible. In 2003, nearly 40% of those served by hospice died within seven days of admittance.  

However, hospice care is available for as long as it is needed. Effective with the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Medicare hospice benefit is divided into an initial 90-day period, and a subsequent 90-day benefit period. An unlimited number of subsequent 60-day benefit periods are available, as long as the patient continues to meet program eligibility requirements. 

And Medicare is only one of several funding sources for hospice care. In most states, there is also a Medicaid hospice benefit for those who may not have Medicare Part A. Many private health insurance plans also have a hospice benefit, and hospice care is offered by most hospice programs to those who may not have any payment source at all. 

Hospice care continues for the patient caregiver and family, after the patient dies, through the bereavement program. Bereavement follow-up continues for at least 13 months after the patient's death, and can be extended if the patient caregiver or family needs it.  

It is my prayer that those who need the wonderful care that hospice can provide, will receive it months before they die.

Editor's Note: November is National Hospice Month. For more information see The Hospice Foundation of America. CBHD

Frank Eppinette is Bereavement Coordinator and Chaplain at LifePath Hospice in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Copyright 2005 by The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity

The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CBHD, its staff, board or supporters. Permission to reprint granted as long as The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and the web address for this article is referenced.