Psychological affects of End-of-Life Care Essay

Hospice care is available under Medicare only if: the patient is approved for Medicare Part A, the patient’s doctor and the hospice medical director certify that the patient is terminally ill with six months or less to live if the disease runs its expected course, the patient signs a statement choosing hospice care instead of standard Medicare benefits for the terminal illness, or the patient receives care from a Medicare-approved hospice program (“Hospice”).
Hospice care can be provided by an agency or organization that is primarily engaged in furnishing services to terminally ill individuals and their families. To receive Medicare payment, the agency or organization must be approved by Medicare to provide hospice services (Berry15). Approval for hospice is required even if the agency or organization is already approved by Medicare to provide other kinds of health services. Medicare pays the hospice directly at specified rates depending on the type of care given each day. The hospice can charge five percent of the reasonable cost, up to a maximum of five dollars, for each prescription for outpatient drugs or biological for pain relief and symptom management related to the terminal illness (Collins). When Medicare beneficiaries choose hospice care, they give up the right to standard Medicare benefits only for treatment of the terminal illness. If the patient, who must have Part A in order to use the Medicare hospice benefit,