No one wants to die or to talk about dying. bat face it: we're all going to do it, sooner. And thanks to the Veterans Eligibility Acs of 1998, enrolled veteran; have a very good bet ac6t for end of fife care. Until recently this benefit tins not widely known to Veterans, to VA providers, and to the community agencies that provides hospice services at home. But the wont is getting around And because November is National Hospice Month, this is a good time for you to know about it too.

    Since early 2004, every VA Medical Custer has been required to have a team of professionals working to assist veterans who are in their last chapter of life. That assistance can take take the form pain management. It can mean hospital or nursing home admission (either at the VA or in the community at VA expense). Or it can mean either or both of those and assistance in finding a suitable community agency to work with a veteran who wants the "last assignment" to be at home in familiar settings and with loved ones.

      Not every veteran facing that final voyage is old enough to qualify for Medicare, which will pay for hospice at home. In that case and it that is how the veteran wants to go, VA is obligated to foot the bill. It's true: if you are an enrolled veteran, the VA will pick up the tab. Period. No means test.

      Hospice makes sense when a veteran decides the time is right for focusing on malting the most of the time left, and admits that the disease is going to will this round. That realization can happen months before the end. And that "realizaization isn't unchangeable--if things start looking up, the veteran can opt for getting out of hospice and restart treatment at any time.

      The requirement for qualifying for hospice is that a doctor has to attest that, in his or her opinion, the patient is likely to din within one months--a scary thought. But the people who Suffer the longest from the death of a loved one are those who survive. The more planning and reconciliation that can happen before those final days, the more memorable and sweet am' special the sad event for everyone Involved.

      In hospice there are good days and bad days. Sometimes the bad days are so bad that the veteran needs to go to the hospital. Or sometimes the person caring for the veteran at home needs a break or has a commitment that takes them away from home--so who cares for the veteran? When that happens, the VA hospital is still there for the veteran. Anyone who tells you differently is misinformed. If the is where the veteran wants to get his or her care that is where the vet will get  it This is true  weather or not VA is paying for the home hospice service that is an interrupted while the veteran is an inpatient.

      There is a great deal of misunderstanding about the Veterans Hospice Benefit. And the confusion is worse because it comes at such a difficult time. But  know this: an enrolled veteran  is emitted to end of life care at VA expense. And electing to get some of the end of life care thou Medicare DOSE NOT CHANGE  the veteran's sigh to get care from the VA when that is what he or she wants.

      If you are in Michigan and you need more information about the Veterans Hospice Benefit, here are names and phone numbers 0f Hospice Coordinators at:

       Ann Arbor VA (associated with Jackson mid Flint Outpatient Clinics): Milissa Higbee, MSW 1-734-769-7100, ext. 7299.

       Detroit  (John D. Dingell) VA (associated with Yale, Pontiac, and Oscoda Outpatient Clinics): Shela Vogel, MSW 1-313-576-1000, ext. 3203. 

      Battle Creek VA (associated with Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Benton Harbor, and East Lansing Outpatient Clinic): Terry Terpstra, RN 1-269-966-5600, ext 3643.

      Iron Mountain VA (associated with Hancock, Ironwood,  Jacoketti, Sault St. Marie, and Menominee Outpatient Clinics): Tery Kinzel, MD 1-906-482-7762, ext 31407.