After calling my mom’s physician telling him my dementia mom was starting to have problems going down the stairs, losing her balance when walking, and fell down a couple of times. I expressed to her doctor that one of us was going to get hurt assisting her down the stairs because she has fallen down a couple of times without injury. He recommended hospice for my mother. My mom does need assistance to walk all the time by holding our hand(s) plus assistance in getting into her bed in the evening. She can still feed herself with a smaller spoon and drink out of a toddler cup. She only eats and drinks fluid because I give it to her. She seems to enjoy eating still but I always must tell her to drink her water or milk. I do not believe my mother is going to die anytime soon after watching the long dying process with my dad in the nursing home. The hospice nurse told me there was a maximum amount of $29,000 on Medicare Hospice. Is there a cap on Medicare Hospice annually? I must do everything for my mom, and I mean everything. She talks to the television, pictures, and magazines which is fine with me. I would really appreciate if someone could give me insight on how Medicare Hospice works.
Too many people in positions to know give wrong information, but they aren't the ones held accountable when things hit the skids--you are.
(Hospice insisted something was true when it wasn't. I knew it wasn't b/c I had previously researched the information under government guidelines.)
The above is a link to Medicare Hospice benefits. I believe the info you were given is incorrect. The hospice bill for my mother for 14 days (in one month) was $14K, so I highly doubt the annual max is $29K! Besides, that's not for you or the hospice nurse to worry about. The doctor orders a hospice evaluation and if the hospice company approves your mom, then Medicare covers their bills 100%.
Beware of trying to figure out how long your mom has left to live, also. I was always fond of thinking my mother (with advanced dementia) would live to be 100 and I said it often. Her dementia 'wasn't as bad' as lots of the other folks in the Memory Care ALF, and while she had congestive heart failure and AFIB, they weren't advanced enough to be life threatening. Yet, 2 months & 1 day after she was FINALLY approved for hospice, she passed away. Without warning, she went to bed on a Tuesday morning and never got back up again. She was tired; her heart was tired, too, and she didn't have it in her to get up again, let the aides dress her, and go into her wheelchair and out into the activity room to interact with the others anymore. She'd had enough and her body said NO MORE. She passed away one week later, to the day.
Your mother may be further along in her journey than you realize. Allow the hospice company to come out and do an evaluation on her. My mother's company used the Medicare allowable reason of "Senile Degeneration of the Brain" as the terminal illness she had which qualified her for hospice care. They were wonderful with her, bringing her a hospital bed, supplies, oxygen, all sorts of things that made her final 2 months of life much more comfortable in general. They also supplied free medication (Ativan & morphine); the Ativan she took for the last 2 months of her life, and the morphine for the last week of her life. She passed peacefully with no pain or agitation at all, thank God. She was 95.
Wishing you the best of luck.
After that if she qualifies, all of moms supplies, needed equipment, and medications will be supplied, along with a nurse coming once a week to start to check her vitals, and an aide to bathe her at least twice a week, all covered 100% under moms Medicare.
You will still be responsible for 99% of moms care, so don't think for one minute that just because hospice is coming on board that your load will be lightened.
There is no "cap" on hospice as far as Medicare is concerned, but your mom will have to be recertified for their care every 3-6 months.
My husband was under hospice care in our home for the last 22 months of his life and the monthly charges to Medicare ranged anywhere from $6500 a month to over $16,000 a month towards the end. And the crazy part of all that is that I was doing 99% of his care and hospice was getting all that money for me to keep him in our home. There is definitely something wrong with that picture don't you think?
Also please note that not all hospice agencies are created equal, so do your homework before you sign on with one. And know too, that if for any reason you are not pleased with a hospice agency, you can always sign on with another one anytime.
Best wishes.