If the hospice provider is recognized by Medicare, most hospice patients will find that Medicare will cover most or all of their expenditures under its Medicare Hospice Benefit. Searching for a suitable provider is not a difficult task; Medicare has certified more than 90 percent of all hospices operating in the United States. In the United States, this coverage falls under Medicare Part A, which is the category that covers hospitalization insurance.

Patients who are terminally ill and have been assigned a life expectancy of fewer than six months will be eligible for hospice care that is provided at no cost. A co-pay of no more than $5 may be required for some prescription medications and other symptom control products that may be required at home, however this will be limited to a small number of patients. At some time, patients will be responsible for 5 percent of the Medicare-approved amount of inpatient respite care, if the need for such care arises.

This must be noted once hospice benefits have been activated, though. In addition to prescription medications, Medicare will no longer fund any treatment that is meant to cure a terminal illness, including hospice care. Medical conditions that are unrelated to the patient’s terminal illness will be covered by the Medicare coverage that was in place prior to the hospice benefit being activated.

In most areas, Medicaid covers the cost of hospice care for individuals with limited financial and material resources. The Hospice Benefits provided by this program are quite comparable to those provided by the Medicare Hospice Benefits.

Most of the costs associated with hospice services, such as physician and nursing care, pain relief and symptom control medication, equipment such as wheelchairs, physical therapy, nutrition counselling and speech therapy, grief counselling for families, supplies such as bandages, and health aides in the home, are covered by Medicare.