Over 50? Keeping Up With Your Healthcare Needs

Hospice Care Can Help You & Your Spouse When Your They Face a Terminal Illness

17 May 2019

Nellie Ryan

If your spouse has a terminal medical condition and is approaching the end of life, you may want to consider hospice care. Your spouse can receive hospice care at home and the services provided could make your spouse's final months, weeks, or days more tolerable. Hospice can also make your job as a caregiver easier. Here are some things you may want to know about getting hospice care for your loved one.

Hospice Care Is Covered by Insurance

Your spouse's doctor must determine when the time is right for hospice. Insurance and Medicare pick up the cost for hospice when your spouse is expected to pass away within a set time. The time varies, but for Medicare and many other types of insurance, the time is set at six months. If your spouse survives beyond six months, the doctor can certify hospice for another six months.

If your spouse should get better during that time, hospice can be stopped and then restarted at a later time if needed. Because of this leeway in coverage and because insurance pays for it, it's best to get hospice care for your spouse as soon as it's needed and not wait until your spouse's final days to sign up and realize how much help hospice could have been.

Hospice Care Covers Many Illnesses

While hospice is often associated with cancer, any type of terminal illness qualifies your spouse. Hospice takes care of people with COPD, Alzheimer's disease, end-stage kidney disease, AIDS, and any other terminal condition that causes your spouse to have a decline in health and ability to function.

Hospice Provides Medication & Equipment

When your spouse begins hospice care, all medication and equipment will come from hospice. This helps you and your spouse since it can sometimes be difficult to get Medicare or other insurance to pay for equipment you might need such as an inflatable mattress for bedsores or a lift that helps get your spouse out of bed. One of the agreements of accepting hospice is that your spouse will only receive treatments for palliative reasons that make them more comfortable, and hospice can supply medications and equipment for palliative care.

Hospice Provides Nurses & Sitters

Hospice can also help with the day-to-day care of your spouse. This might include a nursing assistant to bathe and dress your spouse, a sitter to stay with your spouse while you do errands, or a nurse to come to your home for wound care or assessments. You might have help from hospice daily or just for routine checks one or two times a month. The care your spouse receives is tailored to their condition, and changes as your spouse's condition change.

Hospice can help you as a caregiver too. They offer emotional support and provide you with someone you can call any time for help and advice. Hospice also helps you deal with grief after your spouse passes by offering support groups and counseling.

To learn more about hospice care services, contact companies such as Aspen Healthcare Services.

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