For a Medicare beneficiary with a terminal illness, hospice care is covered under...
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Hospice care is a Part A benefit for beneficiaries certified as terminally ill, generally with a prognosis of six months or less. The hospice election shifts the focus from curative treatment to pain and symptom management, with an interdisciplinary team providing nursing, counseling, and supportive services, and the plan covering related drugs and a limited respite benefit. Part D is not the hospice payer (hospice-related drugs are covered under the hospice benefit, with Part D covering only unrelated drugs), and Medigap supplements rather than replaces Medicare coverage. The Part A placement of hospice is a standard scope-of-benefits point in the senior products outline.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Part D covers prescription drugs but hospice itself, including related drugs, is a Part A benefit.
- C) Medigap is secondary coverage that fills Original Medicare gaps; it is not the primary hospice payer.
- D) Hospice is an inpatient and home-based Part A benefit, not a Part B benefit.
Memory hook
Hospice lives under Part A: comfort first, cure set aside.