Hospice Care is a special way of caring for people who are terminally ill (with 6 months or less to live) and for their families. Hospice care includes physical care and counseling. The goal of hospice is to provide comfort for terminal patients and their families, not to cure the illness.

If you qualify for hospice care, you can receive medical and support services, including nursing care, medical social services, doctor services, counseling and homemaker services. As part of hospice care, you will have a team of doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, counselors and trained volunteers to help you and your family cope with your illness. In many cases, you and your family can stay together in your home. These guidelines will help you and your family to make the best choices for hospice care.

Hospice facilities are required to apply for and obtain a license from the Office of Regulatory Services. Additionally, agencies that accept Medicare and/or Medicaid patients must be certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. For more information related to licensure and compliance history, please visit the ORS Web site at ors.dhr.georgia.gov.

Your doctor and the hospice medical team will work with you and your family to set up a plan of care that meets yourneeds. For more specific information on a hospice plan of care, call your state or national hospice organization. In Georgia, please log onto Georgia Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (GHPCO) Web site at ghpco.org.

If you qualify for hospice care, you will have a specially trained medical team and support staff available to help you and your family to cope with your illness.

You and your family members are the most important part of the team. Your team may also include some or all of the following people:

• Doctors
• Nurses
• Counselors
• Social worker
• Speech-language pathologists
• Hospice aides
• Homemakers
• Volunteers

In addition, a hospice nurse and doctor are on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to give you and your family support and care when you need it.

Medicare covers hospice care if you qualify. Depending on your condition, you may receive hospice care at home, in a hospice facility, hospital or nursing home. Room and board are not covered by Medicare if you receive general hospice services while you are a resident of a nursing home or a hospice’s residential facility. Medicare does not pay for 24-hour assistance if you receive hospice services at home.

For more information about Medicare coverage of hospice care and who qualifies, download a PDF of the booklet Medicare Hospice Benefits Located on the medicare.gov Web site.

Call national hospice associations or visit their Web sites.

• National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO)
  1700 Diagonal Road, Suite 625
  Alexandria, VA 22314
  (800) 658-8898
  nhpco.org
• Hospice Association of America
  228 7th Street, SE
  Washington, DC 20003
  (202) 546-4759
  nahc.org
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  (800) MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
  TTY users should call (877) 486-2048.
  medicare.gov

The following is a patient’s bill of rights for all individuals receiving hospice care. These rights were developed by the Hospice Association of America. These patient rights are currently enforced by law.

Hospice Patients have the right to:

• Receive care of the highest quality
• Have relationships with hospice organizations that are based on ethical standards of conduct, honesty, dignity and respect
• In general, be admitted by a hospice organization only if it is assured that all necessary palliative and supportive services will be provided to promote the physical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being of the dying patient. However, an organization with less than optimal resources may admit the patient if a more appropriate hospice organization is not available, but only after fully informing the client of its limitations and the lack of suitable alternative arrangements
• Be notified in writing of their rights and obligations before their hospice care begins. Consistent with state laws, the patient’s family or guardian may exercise the patient’s rights when the patient is unable to do so Hospice organizations have an obligation to protect and promote the rights of their patients
• Be notified in writing of the care the hospice organization will furnish, the types of caregivers who will furnish the care and the frequency of the services that are proposed to be furnished
• Be advised of any change in the plan of care before the change is made
• Participate in the planning of care and in planning changes in the care, and to be advised that they have the right to do so
• Refuse services and to be advised of the consequences of refusing care
• Request a change in caregiver without fear of reprisal or discrimination
• Confidentiality with regard to information about their health, social and financial circumstances, and about what takes place in the home
• Expect the hospice organization to release information only as consistent with its internal policy, required by law or authorized by the client
• Be informed of the extent to which payment may be expected from Medicare, Medicaid or any other payor known to the hospice organization
• Be informed of any charges that will not be covered by Medicare, and the charges for which he or she may be liable
• Receive this information orally and in writing within 15-working days of the date the hospice organization becomes aware of any changes in charges
• Have access, on request, to all bills for service the patient has received regardless of whether they are paid out of pocket or by another party
• Be informed of the hospice’s ownership status and its affiliation with any entities to whom the patient is referred
• Be informed of the procedure they can follow to lodge complaints with the hospice organization about the care that is, or fails to be, furnished, and regarding a lack of respect for property
• Know about the disposition of such complaints
• Voice grievances without fear of discrimination or reprisal for having done so
• Be told what to do in the case of an emergency

Source: The National Association of Home Care