Private health care insurance when on Hospice?

KathyJo, my sister had BCBS AZ and they paid for her hospice, no deductible. The hospice should be able to explain everything to you as well.

This was 5 years ago, so I would call BCBS and also find out if he can qualify for Medicare because of his diagnosis.

I am so sorry that you are facing this loss.

Why isn’t he on MediCARE? Is it that he is still too young? Or recently considered disabled so he’s going through the SSDI / SSI process as to how they deal with Medicaid & Medicare? If it’s this, please post that. There is someone on this forum who is super knowledgeable on SSDI / SSI system. Way different than over 65 w MediCARE situation.

The hospice agency he is with this past month for sure has an entity they are billing. Call them and ask.

personally till you know what his health insurance will definitely be, I would not cancel his BCBS. I’d try to find out from BCBS in writing if the 10k deductible is for hospitalization and physician visits and RXs but does not apply for hospice billing.

Here is another good ALS resource that makes specific mention of Medicare:

https://www.als.org/navigating-als/financial-information/medicare-information

https://www.medicareresources.org/medicare-eligibility-and-enrollment/medicare-eligibility-for-als-and-esrd-patients/

Acording to the above, a patient with a diagnosis of ALS qualifies for Medicare regardless of age.

Does the Barrows center have a social services staff? That's where I would start. Or you can call the CMS number, 1 (800) 633-4227