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Palliative and hospice programs provide care to chronically ill individuals to help reduce suffering and improve their overall quality of life. Below we compare and contrast these types of programs to help you better understand how they work together.
Palliative care is generally recommended early on and often at the same time as treatment. Palliative care teams are made up of doctors, nurses and other specialized medical caregivers, and usually operate in institutions such as hospitals, extended care facilities or nursing homes.
Generally, hospice care is provided during the last six months of a person's life and is meant to make terminally ill individuals as comfortable as possible for the time they have left. Hospice care does not provide treatment for a disease or condition. In most cases, hospice care is administered by a team of hospice professionals in the comfort of one's home.
Although hospice and palliative care have numerous differences, there are several areas in which they overlap.
Medicare covers hospice services if you meet certain criteria and may help cover certain palliative services.
If your doctor or other health care provider recommends a palliative care program to help cure your illness, talk to to them about what's covered by Medicare and decide together what course of action makes the most sense for you.
Even with Medicare coverage, you may still have to pay certain out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles, copayments and coinsurance.
A Medicare Supplement Insurance plan can help cover some of these costs. To find out what Medigap plans are available in your area, call 1-800-995-4219 to speak with a licensed insurance agent.
The following guides provide more information about Medicare coverage.
Christian Worstell is a licensed insurance agent and a Senior Staff Writer for MedicareSupplement.com. He is passionate about helping people navigate the complexities of Medicare and understand their coverage options.
His work has been featured in outlets such as Vox, MSN, and The Washington Post, and he is a frequent contributor to health care and finance blogs.
Christian is a graduate of Shippensburg University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He currently lives in Raleigh, NC.
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