If you or another TRICARE-eligible family member is faced with a terminal illness, TRICARE offers hospice care. Hospice care emphasizes supportive services, rather than cure-oriented treatment, for patients with a life expectancy of six months or less. This benefit allows for personal care and home health aid services, which are otherwise limited under TRICARE’s basic program options.
Hospice Benefit Coverage
The hospice benefit covers four levels of care:
- Routine home care
- Continuous home care
- Inpatient respite care
- General hospice inpatient care
Note: Respite care is covered when necessary and is limited to no more than five days at a time. General inpatient care is limited to varying short-term stays.
Hospice patients may shift among the levels of care, depending on their needs, the needs of family members caring for them, and the determinations of the medical team managing their care. Care may include:
- Counseling
- Medical equipment, supplies, and medications
- Medical social services
- Medically necessary short-term inpatient care
- Nursing care
- Other covered services related to the terminal illness
- Physical and occupational services
- Physician services
- Speech and language pathology
Care is managed by the hospice care team, in consultation with the patient and his or her family. The hospice care team evaluates and approves changes in the level of care.
Note: Hospice care is not available overseas except in U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
For more information on TRICARE’s hospice coverage, visit TRICARE's web site. |
