MtPockets
Very helpful member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2006
- Messages
- 1,544
- Reason
- PALS
- Diagnosis
- 05/2006
- Country
- US
- State
- Ms
- City
- Gulfport
When I was put on Hospice a few months ago I was not told that if I had any other medical emergency not related directly to ALS that Medicare would not pay for it.
I took myself off Hospice February 29, 2008, because I was told a visit to the ALS clinic would not be paid for while on Hospice, and I had a visit scheduled for March 3, 2008.
The company that was caring for me on hospice did not send in the paper work to Medicare that said I was no longer on hospice. Medicare assumes once you go on Hospice you stay on it until you die.
Around May 11, 2008 I had begun to vomit, and I was aspirating some of the fluid. I could not catch my breath, my wife called an ambulance, my O2 levels were at 70%, and they took me to the hospital. I stayed about a day and a half in the hospital.
When I got the bill for all this, Medicare refused to pay anything, saying I was still on Hospice. Now this was a full two and a half months after I had signed myself off of HOSPICE. The hospital bill alone is over $16,000, much less the Ambulance, Doctors, etc..
I have appealed this and I have been on the phone numerous times trying to get this cleared up. It is a royal pain. Medicare says the Company Trinity Hospice has to send them proof that I was no longer on Hospice. All the people I owe money to have to resubmit their bills.
PLEASE, Learn from my mistakes. Once on Hospice nothing is paid for unless Hospice orders it. No ALS Clinics, no emergency room, no other Doctor visits, etc. The only purpose of Hospice they tell me is for Palliative Care. To make you as comfortable as possible until you die. It normally only last for 6 months.
If for any reason you have to go elsewhere for treatment and remove yourself from Hospice, be sure to keep a copy of the removal form to prove you left Hospice. They never offered to give me a copy and I had no way of knowing I would need one.
I now am on "Home Health Care" where a nurse is on call 24/7 and they check on me about 2 times a week to see if there is anything they can do to help me.
For the benefit of those who are not familiar with it, from the Government Medicare web site:
Hospice Care
Hospice is a program of care and support that you may want to consider if you or someone you care for is terminally ill. Here are some important facts about hospice:
http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10969.pdf
I hope this will help someone keep from making the mistakes I have made.
I took myself off Hospice February 29, 2008, because I was told a visit to the ALS clinic would not be paid for while on Hospice, and I had a visit scheduled for March 3, 2008.
The company that was caring for me on hospice did not send in the paper work to Medicare that said I was no longer on hospice. Medicare assumes once you go on Hospice you stay on it until you die.
Around May 11, 2008 I had begun to vomit, and I was aspirating some of the fluid. I could not catch my breath, my wife called an ambulance, my O2 levels were at 70%, and they took me to the hospital. I stayed about a day and a half in the hospital.
When I got the bill for all this, Medicare refused to pay anything, saying I was still on Hospice. Now this was a full two and a half months after I had signed myself off of HOSPICE. The hospital bill alone is over $16,000, much less the Ambulance, Doctors, etc..
I have appealed this and I have been on the phone numerous times trying to get this cleared up. It is a royal pain. Medicare says the Company Trinity Hospice has to send them proof that I was no longer on Hospice. All the people I owe money to have to resubmit their bills.
PLEASE, Learn from my mistakes. Once on Hospice nothing is paid for unless Hospice orders it. No ALS Clinics, no emergency room, no other Doctor visits, etc. The only purpose of Hospice they tell me is for Palliative Care. To make you as comfortable as possible until you die. It normally only last for 6 months.
If for any reason you have to go elsewhere for treatment and remove yourself from Hospice, be sure to keep a copy of the removal form to prove you left Hospice. They never offered to give me a copy and I had no way of knowing I would need one.
I now am on "Home Health Care" where a nurse is on call 24/7 and they check on me about 2 times a week to see if there is anything they can do to help me.
For the benefit of those who are not familiar with it, from the Government Medicare web site:
Hospice Care
Hospice is a program of care and support that you may want to consider if you or someone you care for is terminally ill. Here are some important facts about hospice:
- Hospice provides comfort and support services to people who are terminally ill. It helps them live out the time they have remaining to the fullest extent possible.
- Hospice care is provided by a specially trained team that cares for the "whole person," including his or her physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs.
- Hospice provides support to family members caring for a terminally ill person.
- Hospice is generally given in the home.
- Hospice services may include drugs, physical care, counseling, equipment, and supplies for the terminal and related condition(s).
- Hospice isn’t only for people with cancer.
- Hospice doesn’t shorten or prolong life.
- Hospice focuses on comfort, not on curing an illness.
- For more info: http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/02154.pdf
http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10969.pdf
I hope this will help someone keep from making the mistakes I have made.