Slide 10 of the handouts says the effective date for the Medicare hospice election can be up to 2 weeks in future. Where can I find this in writing?
There is no specific regulation that states how far in advance a beneficiary can elect the Medicare hospice benefit. However, the regulations state “The effective date of the election, which may be the first day of hospice care or a later date, but may be no earlier than the date of the election statement.” Because a physician cannot certify a patient more than two weeks prior to a hospice election (this will change to 15 days effective January 1, 2011), it would be reasonable that this would be the maximum amount of time that a patient could elect hospice care to begin in the future. We are publishing a clarification on this topic in the January 1, 2011, Newsline.
