We Take It Off Your Plate
Hospice is about more than nursing. It is about lifting the paperwork, the phone calls, the applications and the decisions off a family that is already carrying enough. Here is exactly what Sapphire handles for you, and who pays for it.
Medicare does. Not you.
This is the question families are most afraid to ask, so we answer it first. Hospice is a Medicare benefit your loved one has already earned. Medicare pays Sapphire directly, and Sapphire never bills Medicare patients or their families. Medicaid (AHCCCS) works the same way. If your loved one instead has a private or Medicare Advantage plan with its own copay, we tell you before care begins, and we have a hardship process if your family cannot afford it. We break down every barrier so your loved one gets the care they need.
✓ Covered by the Medicare Hospice Benefit
- All nurse, hospice aide, social worker and chaplain visits
- Hospice physician and medical director oversight
- 24-hour, 7-day on-call nursing by phone and in person
- Medications for pain and symptom relief related to the hospice diagnosis
- Medical equipment: hospital bed, wheelchair, walker, oxygen, commode, pressure-relief mattress
- Medical supplies: incontinence supplies, wound care, gloves, and more
- Short-term inpatient care when symptoms cannot be controlled at home
- Respite care, up to five days at a time, so family caregivers can rest
- Dietary counseling, and physical, occupational or speech therapy when needed for comfort
- 13 months of bereavement support for the family
– Not covered by hospice (and how we help anyway)
- Room and board at an assisted living, group home or nursing facility. This is what ALTCS and VA benefits can cover, and we help you apply.
- Treatment intended to cure the terminal illness (the patient can leave hospice at any time to pursue it, and return later)
- Care from providers not arranged through the hospice team
- Emergency room visits or ambulance transport not arranged by hospice. Call us first, any hour, and we will usually handle it at home.
If your loved one has Medicare, there is nothing for your family to pay. Medicare covers hospice in full, and Sapphire never bills Medicare patients or their families. The only exception is a private insurance or Medicare Advantage plan that sets its own copay. If that is your situation, we tell you before care begins, and if the copay is a hardship, we have a process to help. We break down every barrier so your loved one gets the care they need.
Every benefit your loved one has earned.
Most families have no idea what their loved one qualifies for, and the applications are built to be confusing. Our social workers do this every week. You bring the documents; we do the rest with you.
ALTCS (Arizona Long Term Care System)
ALTCS is Arizona's Medicaid program for people who need a nursing-facility level of care. It is the program that can pay for the one big thing Medicare hospice does not: room and board in an assisted living, group home or nursing facility, or caregiver help at home. Eligibility depends on medical need and on income and assets, and the application involves financial documentation and an in-person medical assessment.
AHCCCS and Medicare enrollment questions
Some patients are eligible for Medicaid (AHCCCS) but were never enrolled, or have Medicare Advantage plans whose hospice rules confuse everyone. Some have both Medicare and AHCCCS and do not know what each one covers.
Veterans benefits
Veterans and surviving spouses may qualify for the VA Aid and Attendance pension, which helps pay for room and board and caregiving, and veterans may also receive hospice through VA benefits. Many families never hear about these programs.
Advance directives: living will, medical power of attorney, DNR
These documents make sure your loved one's wishes are followed and spare the family from guessing during a crisis. In Arizona they include the Living Will, the Health Care Power of Attorney, the Mental Health Care Power of Attorney, and the orange Prehospital Medical Care Directive (the "DNR" that emergency responders honor).
Long-term-care insurance, FMLA and employer paperwork
Family caregivers often have long-term-care policies that require specific documentation to pay out, or need Family and Medical Leave Act paperwork completed to protect their jobs while caring for a parent or spouse.
The choice is yours.
The legwork is ours.
Most of our patients stay exactly where they are, and our team comes to them. But some families reach a point where caring for a loved one at home is no longer possible, and they decide a care community is the right next step. That is a hard decision, and it is made harder by not knowing where to start.
Our social workers know the assisted living communities, group homes and skilled nursing facilities across Maricopa County. We help you understand the difference between them, what each costs, what ALTCS or VA benefits might cover, and what questions to ask on a tour. When you choose, we coordinate the move so the hospice plan of care continues the same day, with the same team.
Delivered, coordinated, handled.
Equipment and supplies, delivered
A hospital bed that makes caregiving safe. Oxygen. A wheelchair, walker or commode. Incontinence and wound-care supplies. All covered, all ordered by your nurse and delivered to the home or facility, usually within a day. When something is no longer needed, we arrange pickup.
Medications, managed
Comfort medications related to the hospice diagnosis are covered and delivered. Your nurse teaches the family or facility staff exactly how and when to give them, keeps a comfort kit in the home for sudden symptoms, and adjusts doses with the physician so nobody is waiting in a pharmacy line at midnight.
Doctors, facilities and family, on the same page
Your loved one's own doctor can stay in charge as attending physician. Our team relays updates, obtains orders, coordinates with facility staff and keeps the whole family informed, including relatives out of state. You stop being the switchboard.
One number, any hour
Something changes at 2 a.m. and you do not know whether to call 911. Call us instead: a Sapphire nurse answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and will talk you through it or come to the home. Most emergencies can be handled right there, without an ambulance or an emergency room.
Teaching the family how
Turning, bathing, feeding, recognizing when symptoms are changing, knowing what is normal at the end of life. Your nurse and aide teach the family and facility caregivers step by step so nobody feels unprepared or alone.
Afterwards
When your loved one passes, you call one number. A Sapphire nurse comes to pronounce, cares for your loved one with dignity, notifies the physician, calls the funeral home you have chosen, and handles the disposal of medications and the pickup of equipment. Our social workers help with the paperwork that follows a death, and our bereavement team stays with the family for 13 months.
Asked by almost every family.
Will my family get a bill from Sapphire Hospice?
What does the Medicare Hospice Benefit pay for?
What does Medicare hospice NOT pay for?
What is ALTCS and how do we apply?
Can hospice help a veteran?
Do we have to choose between hospice and our own doctor?
What if we need help choosing an assisted living or care home?
Let us carry some of this for you.
Call and tell us what is on your plate. We will tell you, honestly, what we can take off it.