Most Medicare services help you get the care you need to cure an illness and return to an active life. Sometimes, though, you may encounter a condition so debilitating that the likelihood of a cure is very small. If your condition is so serious that your life expectancy is six months or less, your doctor may feel your needs are best met by a Medicare-certified hospice care program.

What is hospice care?

Hospice care services are designed to make the last months of your life as comfortable as possible. You'll receive care intended to meet not only your physical needs, but also your emotional, social and spiritual needs, and those of your loved ones.

Hospice care is provided under Medicare Part A as an alternative to curative care. Hospice care services cover regular visits from a team of professionals that will include nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, social workers, chaplains and trained volunteers. Hospice care also covers the drugs you use, medical supplies, and medical equipment like walkers and wheelchairs.

If you choose hospice care, Medicare no longer covers treatments intended to cure your condition. Instead, Medicare will pay 100% of the cost of your hospice care. Most important, if you change your mind about hospice care, you can return to Medicare's curative care services at any time.

How Medicare hospice care works

If you choose hospice care, you and your family will need to select a Medicare-approved hospice program in your area. Your doctor and the hospice program's medical director must then certify the existence of a terminal illness, which is a condition that will likely result in a life expectancy of approximately six months or less, should the illness run its normal course.

Your hospice program then creates a special team of health care professionals who will care for you wherever you call home. This can be a family home, nursing home or assisted living facility. Hospice services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Your hospice care team sets up a plan of care especially for you. This plan is designed to control your symptoms and manage pain. You'll receive most of your care in your home. Your care may also include short-term stays in a hospital or nursing home, though, if your care cannot reasonably be managed or supervised in your home, or if your family caregivers need a respite, or a short break.

A hospice team can include health care professionals, social workers, chaplains and trained volunteers.

Finding a hospice care program

You can learn more, or find a hospice care program in your area, by calling state and national hospice organizations.