HIV: OPTIONS FOR MEDICAL CARE-ALTERNATIVES TO HOSPITAL CARE: HOSPICE CARE
A hospice is a program of services offered to people who are dying and to their families. Hospice care provides physical, psychological, social, and spiritual care for the person for whom aggressive treatment is no longer appropriate. Hospice care was begun as an aid for people who wanted to die at home, and many hospice programs still emphasize this. The only medical care allowed in most hospice programs is designed to make the person comfortable by controlling pain and providing hydration (liquids) and nutrition. Most hospice programs rule out treatment of new infections and complications. Most programs provide services for up to six months. Hospice care can be provided in a facility designed for chronic care, either as part of a program serving many types of patients or as a freestanding unit. Hospice care can also be a home care program or an outpatient care program. Hospice care in a home care program, done by an interdisciplinary staff of professionals and volunteers, typically includes bathing, feeding, changing beds, and similar services, usually once a day. The hospice program’s registered nurse coordinates these services. Home care hospice programs usually require that there be a caregiver in the home. Hospice care in a facility usually costs between $200 and $400 per day. Funding for hospice care varies, depending on the services provided. Medicaid and Medicare will provide thirty days of home hospice care; other insurers vary. Most private insurers and Medicaid and Medicare will also fund care to provide the caregiver time off. They call this “respite care” and usually pay for less than 100 percent of it.*174\191\2*
