Frequently Asked Questions

17. What if I do not have Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance or enough personal income to pay for services?

While our services are limited to those patients covered by Medicare, private insurance or direct pay, no one is ever denied hospice care due to inability to pay.

18. When does hospice care stop?

Hospice care is provided as long as the patient continues to meet the Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance enrollment criteria and desires to have hospice care.

It is important to understand that a Medicare certified hospice agency cannot terminate a patient's Medicare Hospice Benefit unless one of the following conditions (listed in the Medicare Conditions of Participation) occurs. These conditions are the ONLY conditions that can terminate Medicare funded hospice care.

The patient moves out of the hospice agency's service area or decides to transfer to another hospice.
The patient makes the decision to resume curative treatment. In this case, hospice care may be revoked and the patient immediately resumes his regular Medicare coverage. The patient may, at any time, return to hospice care by re-enrolling with Autumn Journey Hospice or another hospice provider.
The patient is no longer eligible for hospice care, as determined by the patient's primary physician and our Medical Director.
The patient's (or other persons in the patient's home) behavior is disruptive, abusive or uncooperative to the extent that delivery of care to the patient or the ability of the hospice to operate effectively is seriously impaired. The hospice agency must do the following before it seeks to discharge a patient for cause:

Advise the patient (or patient's representative, if patient is unable to make decisions) that a discharge for cause is being considered;

Make a serious effort to resolve the problem(s) presented by the patient's behavior or situation;

Ascertain that the patient's proposed discharge is not due to the patient's use of necessary hospice services;

document the problem(s) and efforts made to resolve the problem(s) and enter this documentation into the patient's medical records maintained by the hospice agency.