Hospice focuses on the care, comfort, and quality of life of a person with a serious illness who is approaching the end of life. The patient beginning hospice care understands that his or her illness is not responding to medical attempts to cure it or to slow the disease’s progress.

Like palliative care, hospice provides comprehensive comfort care as well as support for the family, but in hospice, attempts to cure the person’s illness are stopped. Hospice is provided for a person with a terminal illness whose doctor believes he or she has six months or less to live if the illness runs its natural course.

It’s important for a patient to discuss hospice care options with their doctor. Sometimes, people don’t begin hospice care soon enough to take full advantage of the help it offers. Perhaps they wait too long to begin hospice and they are too close to death. Or, some people are not eligible for hospice care soon enough to receive its full benefit. Starting hospice early may be able to provide months of meaningful care and quality time with loved ones.

Where is hospice care provided and who provides it? Hospice is an approach to care, so it is not tied to a specific place. It can be offered in two types of settings — at home or in a facility such as a nursing home, or even in a separate hospice center, like the Circle of Life Hospice Guest House in Reno. Hospice care brings together a team of people with special skills — among them nurses, doctors, social workers, spiritual advisors, and trained volunteers. Everyone works together with the person who is dying, the caregiver, and/or the family to provide the medical, emotional, and spiritual support needed.

At a minimum, Medicare Advantage plans can cover everything that Medicare covers, except hospice care. Medicare Advantage plans do not technically cover hospice care costs. However, if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, original Medicare can step in to fully cover your hospice care services, but you have to switch to Medicare not Medicare Advantage.

Before hospice is assigned, there are some elders who choose to receive Medicare benefits through a Medicare Advantage plan, like myself. Medicare Advantage plans provide extra benefits such as dental, vision, fitness, and hearing, but not hospice. Medicare Advantage plans offer more benefits and cost less than original Medicare. However, the reason these cost-cutting measures are available is because you’re often limited in which providers you can use. It’s a trade-off all Medicare Advantage users may need to consider before a death diagnosis. Once on hospice the traditional Medicare Part A kicks in. Seniors on hospice cannot keep their Medicare Advantage plan, they switch to Medicare. After all, original Medicare is the insurance plan that covers hospice services, not the Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare will pay for your hospice care. When you get a death diagnosis your Medicare Advantage plan needs to inform you that you have a choice of any hospice program.

Who qualifies for hospice coverage under Medicare? The same requirements apply for anyone with Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan when it comes to receiving hospice care. To qualify for hospice benefits patients must meet a criterion defined by Medicare. When you select a Medicare-approved provider, these are the conditions you have to meet:

• Your regular doctor and a hospice doctor need to certify that you are terminally ill, with fewer than six months to live.

• You agree to receive comfort care, also called palliative care, instead of curative treatments.

• You sign a document stating that you are choosing to receive symptom management instead of curative treatments for your terminal illness and any related conditions. Additionally, if you are already receiving hospice care, you will need to receive Medicare approval if you elect to receive treatment from a different hospice provider, as it is considered double dipping.

What hospice services does hospice provide? Medicare fully covers all services laid out in your hospice care plan.