Can Medicare Take Your Assets to Pay For Hospice?

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Last Updated on September 6, 2021 by Frank Davis

Some people believe that in California Medicare has the power to seize their assets to pay for hospice. You may be relieved to learn that this is simply untrue.

Medicare is a federal health insurance program aimed at helping people who are either 65 years old or older, as well as certain younger folks who have disabilities. Additionally, people who are in end-stage kidney failure may also qualify for the program. There are a few different parts to Medicare. Part A is what covers hospice care. Under this program, you would be paying a monthly premium and co-pays. However, if you’re unable to pay those premiums or co-pays, then none of your assets will get seized.

In fact, the one way Medicare can seize your house or assets legally is if you are cheating the system. If you are like almost all Medicare recipients, you do not fall into this category. That means you have nothing to worry about!

The point of Medicare is not to cause additional financial strain on people but to alleviate it. It is a joint federal and state government program that assists recipients with their medical bills, at least for those who qualify. Depending on what state you live in, you will have different healthcare coverage costs that are covered. However, in most states, a majority of your medical expenses will be covered.

When you are eligible for Medicare’s hospice care, you will be glad to hear that hospice care can be completely covered. All you need to do is meet the criteria. A helpful information brochure called Medicare and it will provide you with all the details regarding what the requirements are for this full hospice care coverage and what you receive. 

How does one qualify for hospice care? To put it simply, a doctor will have to certify that you are terminally ill. This means you have less than six months left to live. Once this is established, you are covered for the following:

• Items and services necessary to provide pain relief and manage symptoms
• Medical, nursing, and social services
• Prescription drugs
• Select medical equipment
• Health aide services
• Spiritual and grief counseling

Anything beyond these is not covered by Medicare. That means help with non-medical tasks like meal prep, doing laundry, and other things will need to be out-of-pocket expenses. That could lead to a great deal of money being spent. However, there is sometimes the possibility of turning to Medicaid to pay for extra-care needs.

Medicaid will usually be able to cover the things that Medicare doesn’t. The one downside is that your choices are severely limited on Medicaid. That is because it is a low-income program. Ideally, you will not need to venture into Medicaid but instead receive all of the service and support you need from Medicare’s hospice program. That is because once you are in Medicaid, you do run the risk of that program taking your assets. This occurs under the estate recovery program. 

Medicare’s hospice care program is an excellent option for end-of-life patients who do not have to worry about their assets getting seized. It provides a generous amount of services that fulfill the needs of most people. If you were wondering can Medicare take your assets to pay for hospice, you can rest easy knowing that it cannot.