Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 1/5
Under Medicare Part A, hospice care for a terminally ill beneficiary:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Medicare Part A covers hospice care for beneficiaries certified as terminally ill (a prognosis of six months or less). The hospice benefit provides pain and symptom management, nursing, counseling, and supportive services, with small copays for outpatient drugs and respite care. Electing hospice means choosing comfort-oriented care for the terminal illness; there is no requirement to exhaust curative treatment first, and hospice is available to Medicare beneficiaries of any age. Hospice is elected, not mandated, for the terminal illness itself.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) No exhaustion requirement exists; the beneficiary simply elects hospice instead of curative treatment for the terminal condition. The beneficiary simply chooses hospice instead of continuing any curative treatment whatsoever.
- C) Hospice is a covered Part A benefit, not an exclusion. Hospice is a fully covered Part A benefit for the terminally ill, and it is certainly not an exclusion from Medicare coverage.
- D) Hospice is available to Medicare beneficiaries of any age; it is not limited to those under 65. Medicare beneficiaries of every age may elect hospice when they are certified as terminal.
Memory hook
Hospice = Part A's comfort care for the final six months — symptom relief, not cure, with only tiny copays.