On a quarterly basis, Medicare patients will receive from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) a Medicare Summary Notice that lists Medicare health insurance claims information and all the services and supplies billed to Medicare for a 90-day-period—for both hospice and non-hospice claims.
The Medicare Summary Notice is not a bill. Hospice care is an “all-inclusive” benefit; you do not owe any money for any of the hospice care provided to you by Community Hospice & Palliative Care. Hospice care providers are reimbursed a daily, or “per diem,” charge for the care, supplies, medical equipment and prescription medications provided to you that are related to your hospice diagnosis.
Medicare requires hospice providers to supply detailed information on all claims submitted for reimbursement. This includes every visit made by our nurses, hospice aides, physicians and psychosocial staff each month. In addition, Medicare also requires that the hospice assign a “charge” for each of these visits. These visit amounts appear on the Medicare Summary Notice as “noncovered charges.”
Note: To date, Medicare has not asked hospice providers to report visit details for other members of the hospice care team, such as chaplains, volunteers, bereavement specialists and others, even though these services may be provided to you.
The additional “non-covered charges” are for reporting purposes only, and are not added to, or in addition to, the per diem reimbursement received from the government by Community Hospice & Palliative Care.
You are not responsible for any difference between the non-covered charges and Medicare’s per diem reimbursement to Community Hospice & Palliative Care. Community Hospice & Palliative Care understands that your Medicare Summary Notice may raise questions. Again, the notice is not a bill, and you do not owe any money for the hospice care being provided to you.
We are available to help you understand your Medicare or insurance coverage as it relates to our hospice care. If you have any questions, please call 904.268.5200 and ask to speak with someone in our Finance department.