HJNO Jul/Aug 2023

50 JUL / AUG 2023 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS COLUMN  SENIOR HEALTH ALTHOUGH it is inevitable, navigating the end of one’s life is never easy. As a health- care provider, patients or their family members will often lean on your expertise to help them understand what options are available to them. One commonly misun- derstood benefit available to those at the end of life is hospice. According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), people are increasingly choosing hospice care at the end of life. Hospice provides comfort care and sup- port when attempts to cure one’s illness have stopped. The NIA states that it is important for patients to discuss hospice with their doctor so they can start it early enough to take advantage of all that hos- UNDERSTANDING HOSPICE: Common Misconceptions and Unknown Benefits of Hospice Care you have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insur- ance)” and meet the following conditions: • Your hospice doctor and your regu- lar doctor certify that you’re termi- nally ill (with a life expectancy of six months or less). • You accept comfort or palliative care instead of treatment to cure your ill- ness. • You sign a statement choosing hos- pice care instead of other Medicare- covered treatments for your terminal illness and related conditions. Hospice care can be provided at home as well as in a facility such as a nursing home or inpatient hospice facility. At home, pa- tients can receive much needed durable pice has to offer. In order to understand the true benefits of hospice, as well as address some common misconceptions, I spoke with Valerie Posner, a licensed clinical so- cial worker (LCSW) at Lambeth House, who assists residents and their family members as they navigate tough, end-of- life decisions. Benefits of hospice Many patients are unaware of the in- credible benefits that hospice care has to offer. According to Posner, families are always pleasantly surprised that hospice is a Medicare benefit with little to no out- of-pocket expenses. According to Medi- care.gov, “you qualify for hospice care if