Those who choose hospice services near the end of life do not “go into” hospice, but receive services where they live. This could be a private residence, assisted living community or nursing home. Some hospitals have hospice beds; however, the intention of hospice is to deliver hospice services to the patient wherever they call home.

The goal of hospice care is to provide patients with the best quality of life possible during their final months, weeks and days. Contrary to the common misconception, studies have shown that patients receiving care and support from a hospice program often live longer than expected.

Ultimately, hospice care is all about comfort care. Align Hospice aims to help our patients and their families enjoy the time they have together by providing end-of-life care with compassion, dignity, and respect.

Hospice helps redefine hope for patients and their loved ones. It offers hope that a secure, familiar environment can be provided; hope for freedom from fear of isolation, abandonment, loneliness, loss of control and physical pain; and hope that the family will be nurtured and supported through grief and bereavement services during their loved one’s end of life journey and after their death. Hospice is not giving up. It is choosing to live the rest of your life the way you want to live it, with quality!

Palliative care provides symptom and pain management for patients with chronic or advanced illness. Palliative care may begin at the time of diagnosis and be provided while the patient pursues curative treatment. In contrast, hospice services include palliative care plus emotional and spiritual support, creative art therapy, and more. Hospice services may only be provided if the patient decides to stop seeking curative treatment for their advanced illness and has a prognosis of less than six months.

Hospice services are fully covered under Medicare/Medi-cal. This includes nursing care as well as medication and equipment related to the patient’s life-limiting diagnosis. Many private insurance companies may cover hospice with no out-of-pocket expenses to the patient which is confirmed upon checking eligibility. However, medications, deductibles, and co-pays not related to the terminal illness are usually the patient’s responsibility. The U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs covers hospice care for veterans.

-To qualify for the hospice care benefit, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medi-cal requires that the patient:

-Is certified by a doctor to be terminally ill and expected to live six months or less

-Accepts palliative care instead of curative treatment

-Signs a statement that selects hospice care in place of other Medicare-covered benefits to treat the terminal illness