How is Hospice Paid For?
Eternal Rest: The Art of Dying Well
•
3m 44s
Medicare, Medicaid, and many private insurance companies cover hospice.
Patients and their families can contact their insurance provider to see what their particular coverage includes, such as the number of visits to the home by hospice nurses or the length of time allowed in a hospice facility. Before beginning hospice, patients may be required to sign an agreement stating they will forgo additional hospital trips for aggressive treatment or similar procedures.
“Even if a person or family cannot afford hospice services, religious communities like the Little Sisters of the Poor and other orders care for individuals who do not have the financial means required by other care centers.”
Patients and their families should always read the fine print carefully to know their specific coverage. If a hospice patient continues to receive services for longer than what is covered by his or her insurance, additional charges can sometimes be incurred. Social workers can often help navigate the process, offer support, and answer questions.
Up Next in Eternal Rest: The Art of Dying Well
-
What is the Catholic Approach of Pall...
The main goal of palliative care is to relieve the pain and suffering of the patient. Its practices can be used alongside more traditional medical care. Provided that the treatments of palliative care respect the fundamental orientation of medicine towards the patient and does not encourage pract...
-
How Do I Grieve A Miscarriage?
Memorializing the loss of a baby can help parents grieve. Rituals like holding a ceremony, planting a tree, or gathering with friends to pray for the child’s soul can provide meaning and comfort.
Pregnancy loss is incredibly difficult. It involves loss in the present and of a future—all the pote...
-
Can Catholics Donate Organs?
If donating a vital organ is going to cause death or irreversible harm to the donor, it is morally illicit according to the natural moral law and Catholic social teaching.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “organ transplants are in conformity with the moral law if the physical a...
