Juggling between taking care of your aging parents or a special needs child and rest of your life can be pretty tricky at times. You cannot ignore your work or other important areas of your life and spend all the time in taking care of somebody who needs you. Someone else can play the role of a caregiver instead of you through the respite care insurance coverage.
What is Respite care?
Respite care involves temporary care for a short duration of time. It is designed to take care of a sick or disabled person and provide relief to the regular caregiver.
What is Hospice care?
Hospice care is given in the home most of the time. In some instances, it can also be provided in a hospice inpatient facility.
Respite and hospice services are often provided together. Patients who need attention frequently usually want to be taken care of at their home. Some of the services included in a hospice care and respite coverage plan are as follows.
- Short-term Respite care
- Short-term inpatient care for symptom management
- Nursing care
- Hospice aide and homemaker services
- Doctor services
- Prescription drugs for symptom control
- Medicines and other medical supplies
- Physical Therapy
- Dietary counseling
- Speech-language pathology services
- Social work services
- Grief and loss counseling for family members
- Other Medicare services
Who needs these services?
When the doctor determines that the efforts to cure the illness are not working or you no longer want care to cure the terminal illness, you might need these services. When your doctor declares that you are terminally ill and have a life-expectancy of six months or less if the illness continues its course, you can consider availing these services. These services aim to maximize the quality of life, unlike traditional care that seeks to cure the illness.
How can insurance coverage cover the costs of Hospice and Respite care?
Hospice benefits can be availed under the original Medicare Part A if the following conditions are satisfied.
- You are eligible for Hospital Insurance(Original Medicare Part A).
- Medicare-assigned doctor certifies that you are terminally ill and expected to live for less than six months. If your condition goes into remission, you can go back to the previous Medicare coverage and withdraw from the hospice program.
- You sign a statement and choose Hospice care benefits instead of Medicare-covered benefits to treat your illness.
Limits and Costs of Hospice Care
- Once you declare that you need hospice care benefits instead of benefits aiming to cure the illness, Medicare will not pay for any medications or treatment to cure your illness.
- If you live in an institution such as a nursing home or hospice facility, Medicare doesn’t cover housing.
- It covers a maximum amount of $5 copayment per prescription medication for managing pain and symptoms.
- You will have to pay 5% of the Medicare-approved amount for inpatient facility care for a maximum five-day stay.
All other Hospice care costs are covered by Medicare. If you or a family member has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, you should understand all the treatment options, including the hospice care.
Get a quote to find out more and learn about the respite care insurance coverage and hospice care plans.