Welcome to our Hospice Patient Center!
Here at Home Care Specialists, we are proud to work with Hospice Care professionals, patients and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. This page is dedicated to help clarify some of the confusion that patients and families frequently encounter, as well as offer assistance, and guidance for families who want more information.
Hospice Benefit vs. Insurance Benefit
Hospice Benefit:
Patients who are signed onto Hospice Care, are electing their Hospice Benefit under their insurance. When DME is delivered under Hospice Benefit, most items are rental.
Rental vs. Purchase depends entirely on Hospice and Provider Contracts. Please contact Home Care Specialists or Hospice Agency, to verify if item has been purchased or is a continuous rental item.
Under Hospice contract, Home Care Specialists provides Durable Medical Equipment on behalf of the Hospice Program to Hospice Patient. All rental products are expected to be returned to Home Care Specialists until patient requirement is resolved, or requested to be returned by Hospice Program. All products under Hospice Rental Agreement do not rent to own.
Insurance Benefit:
Medicare and other insurances, traditionally pays for durable medical equipment on either a capped rental basis or by purchasing inexpensive or routinely purchased items, although Medicare will traditionally purchase these items, you may elect to have these items rented.
Inexpensive/Routinely Purchased Items: Items in this category may be purchased or rented however the total amount paid cannot exceed the Medicare purchase amount. (Examples include walkers, crutches, canes etc.)
Capped Rental Items: Medicare will pay a monthly fee for a period not to exceed 13 months. After this period ownership of the equipment is transferred to the Medicare beneficiary. Once ownership is transferred it is the beneficiary’s responsibility to arrange for any required service or repairs. *
*Oxygen is an exclusion to above insurance benefit.
Hospice Discharge Patient Guide
Discharging off of hospice can be a confusing time because insurance benefits and requirements for coverage are changing in order to qualify patients for their renting equipment. When a patient discharges off of Hospice Care, their insurance will require medical documentation stating patient need in order to continue coverage for products.
Home Care Specialists will be contacting ALL discharged patients once notified by Hospice Program of their discharge, to schedule pickup all items.
Patients are urged to schedule an appointment with their physician immediately in order to discuss and verify if item(s) are medically necessary for patient.
Physicians are requested to send all required medical documentation to a provider they recommend for patient, following insurance guidelines for coverage and care of patient.
Patients have the right to pay out of pocket if they wish to keep equipment.
If items were previously rented with another provider, item rental may be recommended to return to previous provider.
*Items ordered under Hospice Care may not be covered items under insurance.