Connecticut Joins States Offering Hospice Coverage under Medicaid

A new Connecticut state law went into effect January 1, 2010 adds hospice services as a Medicaid benefit.

Previously, patients with most types of private insurance and Medicare, which covers the elderly, were eligible to have hospice services covered, said Ronny J. Knight, senior vice president of planning and reimbursement for Connecticut Hospice. But in Connecticut and just one other state, Medicaid patients were ineligible for the end-of-life medical and support services. These include the care of hospice nurses, social workers, aides, clergy, volunteers and bereavement counselors to terminally ill patients and their families. Hospice care can be provided in a patient's home or in a skilled nursing facility.

In August 2009, New Hampshire began offering hospice care under the Medicaid benefit to its residents. Budget shortfalls threatened to end the benefit in South Carolina earlier last year, but funding was restored.