Medicare Part A covers hospice care for a beneficiary who:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Hospice care under Medicare Part A is available to a beneficiary with a terminal illness who is certified by a physician as having a life expectancy of six months or less. Hospice focuses on comfort and palliative care rather than curative treatment, and it is provided in the home or in hospice facilities. The beneficiary elects hospice care instead of curative treatment for the terminal illness. This six-month certification is a central Medicare hospice eligibility fact. Hospice care includes nursing, pain management, medical social services, and bereavement counseling, and it may be renewed for additional periods as long as the terminal certification remains valid. The beneficiary may revoke the hospice election at any time.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Hospice requires a terminal certification regardless of age; being under 55 is not an eligibility condition.
- C) Prior use of Medicare benefits is irrelevant to hospice eligibility; the terminal illness certification is the test.
- D) Exhausting lifetime reserve days relates to inpatient hospital coverage, not hospice eligibility; hospice depends on the six-month terminal certification.
Memory hook
Six months or less, doctor certified — that is the hospice key to Medicare's comfort care.