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What Is the Difference Between Hospice and Home Health Care?
Date Updated: December 14, 2024
Written by:
Leigh Morgan has more than 15 years of experience writing about senior care. She’s the author of “Financial Safety for Seniors: 77 Tips for Preventing Elder Financial Abuse” and has written hundreds of articles about Medicare, Medicaid, assisted living communities, nursing homes and memory care. Morgan developed an interest in senior care while recruiting home health nurses, certified nursing assistants and patient care technicians for a large health care system.
Reviewed by:
Dr. Brindusa Vanta is a health care professional, researcher, and an experienced medical writer (2000+ articles published online and several medical ebooks). She received her MD degree from “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine, Romania, and her HD diploma from OCHM – Toronto, Canada.
The difference between hospice and home health care is that hospice services are reserved for individuals with terminal illnesses, while home health services aren't. Both types of care help seniors maximize their quality of life.
What Is Hospice?
Hospice provides doctors, nurses, chaplains, social workers and other professionals to seniors with life expectancies of less than six months. Licensed health care professionals address the individual's physical needs, while chaplains and social workers focus on spiritual and psychosocial needs.
Once an individual decides to receive hospice services, they stop receiving curative interventions. Rather than attempting to cure terminal illnesses, hospice exists to give seniors access to high-quality comfort care. Although comfort measures control pain and other symptoms, they don't treat or cure the underlying illness.
How Does Hospice Differ From Home Health Care?
Hospice and home health care have different purposes. While hospice focuses on giving comfort to people nearing the end of their lives, home health care helps seniors recover from injuries or manage chronic illnesses. Licensed professionals provide a wide range of services, such as intravenous therapy and wound care. Home health services help seniors regain their independence and slow the progression of chronic diseases.
Does Medicare Cover Hospice or Home Health Services?
Medicare Part A pays for hospice services when a hospice doctor and a regular doctor certify that a beneficiary has a life expectancy of less than six months. The beneficiary must also agree to accept comfort care instead of curative treatments and sign a statement choosing hospice over Medicare-covered treatments.
Medicare covers medically necessary home health services if an individual needs part-time or intermittent skilled care and qualifies as homebound under the Medicare guidelines. Covered services include physical therapy, medical social services, occupational therapy and durable medical equipment.