Hospice Care Information

Courtesy of Hospice Care of Nebraska

Hospice Admission Criteria:

• Life-limiting illness
• Prognosis of six (6) months or less (if disease follows its normal course)
• Physician must order hospice care
• Individual is not seeking curative treatment
  

Services Provided by Hospice:

• Nurses
• Medical and Social Workers
• Clergy
• Volunteers
• Therapy Services
• Family member bereavement counseling and support
• Education and Inservice Programs
• 24-hour availability
  

Financial Responsibility of Hospice:

• Visits made by hospice staff and volunteers
• Medications
• Supplies
• Medical equipment
• Therapies
• Hospitalizations
• Respite care
• Bereavement counseling service
  

What Does Medicare Cover?

• Physician services
• Nursing care
• Medical appliances and supplies, as appropriate
• Drugs for symptom management and pain relief
• Short term inpatient and respite care
• Homemaker services, home health aides and volunteers
• Physical and other therapies
• Counseling: social work, bereavement and pastoral care

Compiled by the Lincoln/Greater Nebraska Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, 1999.