ABSTRACT
Medicare Hospice Benefit regulations require a hospice to become certified before receiving reimbursement. To qualify for the Medicare Hospice Benefit, a patient must be terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its normal course. A consent form is signed by the patient acknowledging that he or she is aware of forgoing other Medicare benefits for the terminal condition, and chooses to receive palliative care. Medicare used its regulatory authority to change the way hospices are paid for and routine home care. The palliative care movement has been more effective in bringing the competencies of palliative care to the attention of the larger health care system. The hospice community seems to believe that end-of-life care belongs to hospice. Although hospice care has been shown to improve the quality of care for dying patients and their families, it is not for everyone.
