Eligibility Requirements
For the vast majority of hospice patients, eligibility requirements are determined by Medicare or Medicaid guidelines. Private insurance companies usually follow the same guidelines, but not always. Patients or families who intend to pay for services directly have more flexibility when defining the right time for palliative or hospice care. In any case, patients or their guardians must agree that palliative care, meaning comfort care that is not curative care, is a better quality of life choice than the further pursuit of curative care. The patient's attending physician or a Freedom Medical Director (also a physician) must certify that the patient’s estimated life expectancy, in Medicare or Medicaid cases, is six months or less if the hospice diagnosis runs its normal course. However, the six month criteria only determines eligibility and patients who live for more than six months will continue to receive Freedom Hospice Care for as long as a physician will re-certify that a patient has a life-limiting circumstance.
A common misunderstanding about hospice is that care is only available to cancer patients. While certain stages of cancer are eligible hospice diagnoses, hospice care is available to patients with a wide range of life-limiting circumstances that may include, but are not limited to (may vary from state-to-state):
- Alzheimer's disease
- Pulmonary disease
- Congestive Heart Failure
- (COPD) Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- Kidney disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Neurological disease
- Stroke
- Metastatic cancer
- Liver disease
- AIDS / Stage IV HIV
- Coma
- Lou Gehrig’s (ALS) disease
- Heart disease
- Cardiomyopathy
- Dementia
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Diabetes
For patients in decline and in need of care that may not meet criteria for any individual diagnosis, Medicare and Medicaid provide another broad category, "Adult Failure to Thrive," under which a patient may qualify for hospice care.
In all cases, Freedom welcomes patients without regard to race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, creed, disability, age or place of residence within our coverage area.
If you have any questions about a specific diagnosis or how Freedom Hospice Care might benefit you or a loved one, please call (817) 265-0151 Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. Or, if you wish, click on the "Contact" tab at the top of this page or the bold "Click here" below and send us an email. We're here to help.
