Hospice gives Medicare presentation

    Hospice of Washington County held an informational public forum about Medicare Monday night in the library. Jayme Colby, the director of nursing services and the patient care coordinator for Hospice, gave a PowerPoint presentation that outlined what hospice services are covered by Medicare.

    Colby began her presentation by reviewing what Hospice does. She said the focus of Hospice is providing comfort to people who are terminally ill. On any given day, Hospice is treating between 16 and 20 patients in a six-county area. Hospice offers services such as dietary counseling, speech-language pathology help, nursing care and physical therapy.

    Medicare will cover this kind of end-of-life care provided the patient is eligible for Medicare Part A ? hospital insurance ? and the primary care physician and Hospice medical director have certified that the prognosis shows the patient has a life expectancy of less than six months.  

For more, see our March 9 print edition.