FACT: Hospice care is paid for by Medicare, Medi-cal, and private insurance. For patients with no insurance, there is a sliding scale. Once enrolled in Hospice, all patients and families receive the same services including medications and equipment related to the terminal diagnosis and the care from a team of professionals.

FACT: Hospice care is for people in the last stages of life, not just for people who are on the verge of death. To be eligible for Hospice services, a patient must have a prognosis of six months or less to live. However, Hospice services provide more benefit to patients and families when they enroll earlier rather than in the final days or weeks of life.

FACT: Anyone can request a no-cost, no-obligation evaluation or information visit from Hospice, whether the patient resides in a private home or a care facility.

FACT: Hospice is no longer exclusively for cancer patients. Hospice care is available to all terminally ill people and their families, regardless of diagnosis. Some of the most common non-cancer diagnoses and life-limiting conditions are congestive heart failure, dementia, chronic lung disease, or “debility,” which is simply old age.

FACT: Patients receiving Hospice services may continue to be cared for by their own doctor.

FACT: Hospice does nothing to hasten a person’s death or artificially prolong their life. Studies have found that Hospice patients actually lived longer than those not receiving Hospice care.

FACT: Some people worry that if the patient lives longer than six months they will be kicked off of Hospice services. This never happens. As long as the patient’s prognosis doesn’t change and they continue to decline – however slowly – Hospice services continue. There is absolutely no penalty if a patient lives longer than the doctor’s prognosis.

FACT: When a patient enrolls in Hospice, the goal of care is no longer a “cure,” but rather to maximize the patient’s quality of life based on their choices so that the person may live life as fully as possible for the remaining time available. Hospice does not mean giving up hope, but it can help people revise what they hope for. Hope changes from finding a cure to hope for a peaceful, comfortable death, surrounded by loved ones if they so choose.

FACT: Hospice care is provided during regular, intermittent visits, with a nurse available by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If needed, Hospice can help the family arrange for a private-hire, around-the-clock care attendant.

FACT: The Hospice care team helps ALL family members and caregivers cope during this time of transition while providing the education they may need to best care for the patient and themselves. Hospice also offers grief support counseling before and after a loved one’s death.

FACT: Most Hospice care is provided during regular visits wherever the patient calls home – in a private home, nursing or residential care facility. Twelve private rooms are available at our inpatient facility, the Ida Emmerson Hospice House, for patients who require short stays for acute care or respite care. Patients who choose to make the Hospice House their permanent home will be charged a daily rate.