What is the difference between hospice and palliative care?
Hospice is comfort-focused care for someone a physician certifies is likely to have six months or less if the illness runs its normal course, and it replaces curative treatment; palliative care relieves symptoms and stress at any stage of a serious illness and can be given alongside treatment meant to cure.
Both are delivered by interdisciplinary teams. Palliative care is often hospital- or clinic-based; hospice usually comes to wherever the patient lives.
Where is hospice provided in Louisville?
Hospice in Louisville is provided wherever the patient lives, at home, in assisted living, in a personal care home or in a nursing facility, by a Kentucky-licensed hospice program; OIG's current roster lists one hospice license based in the seven counties, Hosparus, Inc. in Louisville, and other hospices based elsewhere may serve the area.
Kentucky's assisted living law lets residents arrange hospice from a hospice program licensed under KRS 216B if the community's policies permit it (KRS 194A.705(3)), so ask about the policy before move-in.
Who pays for hospice and palliative care?
Medicare's hospice benefit covers the hospice team, medications and equipment related to the terminal illness, and short inpatient and respite stays, but not room and board; palliative care is generally billed as ordinary medical care under Medicare Part B or other insurance.
Kentucky Medicaid also covers hospice for eligible members, including institutional hospice in nursing facilities, where the $60 personal needs allowance applies.
Can a patient leave hospice in Kentucky?
Yes. A patient can revoke the hospice benefit and return to curative treatment at any time, and can change hospice providers, rights families are often not told about.
Ask any hospice how fast a nurse responds after hours, whether that is a clinician or an answering service, and where inpatient care would happen if symptoms cannot be controlled at home.
Can a Louisville assisted living resident receive hospice without moving?
Usually yes: Kentucky's assisted living law lets residents contract with a licensed hospice program if the community's written policy permits outside providers, so many residents receive hospice in their own apartment.
Ask before move-in whether the community has worked with hospice teams before and whether its staffing can handle increasing care needs between hospice visits. In a nursing facility, hospice is common and Kentucky Medicaid recognizes institutional hospice. Personal care homes vary, because residents must remain ambulatory or mobile nonambulatory under 902 KAR 20:036.
At a glance
| Hospice is | Palliative care is | |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Prognosis of six months or less | Any stage of serious illness |
| Treatment | Comfort focus; curative treatment stops | Alongside curative treatment |
| Medicare | Dedicated hospice benefit (no room and board) | Billed as regular medical care |
| Setting | Wherever the patient lives | Often hospital or clinic based |
Sources include KRS Chapter 194A, 902 KAR 20:480, Kentucky CHFS and DMS pages, CareScout and VA rate tables as cited above; see our editorial standards.
