Has anyone here gotten a geri chair for their spouse, or have one their spouse uses in a facility? It looks like a very early recliner, but it has a tray that can attach to it.
briegull, hospice provided a geri chair for DH. to use at home. I found the chair bulky and cumbersome to move around. He found a way to slide under the tray and I still had to watch him to prevent that. I switched to a reclining wheel chair and found that much more manageable. The back was higher and it would recline to a horizontal position. I attached a seat belt and added a tray to the chair, although he didn't use the tray. I used this chair for the last six months and found it worked better than the geri chair.
Joyce, thanks. My hospice nurse was here today and we talked about it. We'll see. I can't move him much of anywhere as it is - we have a 2 story house - so it may work, may not.
The facility where Charlie is uses the geri chairs without a tray. In a way I wish Charlie was "ready" for one. They appear so much more comfortable than sitting in a wheel chair all day. But he is still too restless and wants to be on the move most of the time. The staff assures me that at this point in time he would probably upset it trying to get out of it.
The gerichairs are good for use in a facility where there are long halls and big doorways, they are hard to turn and are huge....I can't imagine how they could be used in someone's home. The reclining wheelchairs are wonderful...and very easy to maneuver......
We'll see. It's replacing a gigantic recliner that took up a lot of the room and was impossible to get him out of. I did go to a supply house and look at one and sit in it. It's definitely not as big as the recliner. I'm not really expecting to move him anywhere with it, just sit him up and recline him and give him a place to sit while the bed is made, etc. We have him in his bedroom upstairs and it's not large. The deal is that Hospice (here in RI) can order one delivered - it's rented so I don't have to dispose of it later.
briegull, It will be great for you. That is exactly how I use ours, I never move it. I placed it in the room where I need for it to be, put the brakes on so it would not move around and that is how I use it, just to place him in, recline him and give him a different position. I could not live without it.
I just bought my husband a recliner. He's never had one, always loved my Dad's but refused to consider buying one himself. I got him battery-operated with push buttons. Since it came, It's been too warm to sit inside much, but the other night he was showing it to our friends and stayed in it all evening, moving up and down. I was starting to hope he didn't like it, it would be MINE. I love it too. If he does take to it, I'll probably get another one just like it for me.
It came this afternoon. L. had to try it immediately and got into it happily. After ten or twenty minutes he was mad at the Nazis on the TV (and it was the witching hour, 3:20.) Wanted out, so I let it down and he got back into bed with little fuss. I have to work out how to use the pedals barefoot (!) but otherwise I think it will do exactly what I wanted it to. It would be $50/MO. but since medicare and medigap will pay for it there's no charge to me.
briegull, I thought that Hospice was providing the equipment for you??? Your Medicare and Medigap should not be involved at all. Medicare does not pay for durable medical equipment while you are on Hospice.
Jane, the VNA (visiting nurses association) Hospice that I have for my husband accepts reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurers or individuals. That's how they're paid. They arrange the meds, the doctor, the visiting nurse, the CNA visits (not Andrew; he's separate) for bathing, etc, and durable equipment that the VNA doctor or supervisor says is needed. Some Hospice orgs, I know, also supply all the paper goods you need - depends, pads, etc., but this one does not. However, they will be reimbursed by Medicare for the geri chair. They wouldn't have ordered it if they had not known that it was something Medicare would pay for.
Wow, in the Medicare policy it states, Medicare will not pay for Durable Medical supplies when hospice is involved ,this is suppose to be furnished by Hospice. All durable medical providers that we have ever ha d dealings with have told us once we go on hospice Medicare no longer pays for durable med. That is suppose to be true everywhere. We have the best medigap money can buy and ours has never been billed, neither has our Medicare. This is sure news to me.
I do know that home health care can be called in and in a case like that Medicare will pay for durable medical, I also know that sometimes Hospice using the Home Health Agency as a step before actual Hospice. I have never ever heard of being on regular hospice and then Medicare paying for Durable Medical supplies, Medicare pays Hospice a per deim per patient. Something is not right here. Maybe this is not regular Hospice that you have it does sound more like home health, the step before Hospice. Clare ask your team if that is what you now have, if I were a betting person I would bet that you have the home health care part right now and not regular Hospice.
Starling, the only thing Medigap policies will pay for are things that have been approved by Medicare first, Durable Medical is part of what most Hospice agencies offer the patient. Some Hospice providers are for profit and others are not, this plays a big part on what they offer the patient. As far as Durable Medical, Hospice does not bill Medicare for Durable Medical, they bill for the Doctor visits, Social Service visits, clergy, respite, Nursing etc. not durable Medical. Medicare then pays Hospice a certain amount of those charges. It all comes down to per deim per patient load that they have. No Medigap policy will pay for durable medical while a patient is on REGULAR hospice Medigap will pay for durable medical if you are on HOME HEALTH CARE, and MEDICARE WILL ALSO.
This is all very confusing. i was reading the hospice part of the VNA thing. Not the home health care part. But I went just now to pick up some Ativan from the pharmacy ordered by the hospice nurse, and found that it wasn't included in the part D medicare.
Then I found this: (http://hffo.cuna.org/10014/article/1167/html)
Medicare
Medicare has provided a hospice care benefit since 1982. It's now the primary payer for more than 80% of hospice patients, so most hospice policies and programs are designed to meet Medicare requirements. Under Medicare, you must elect hospice care in writing if you want it. The hospice benefit replaces other Medicare coverage, including Part D for prescription drugs--but only for services related to the terminal disease. Regular Medicare benefits are available for any medical treatment that's not related to the hospice diagnosis.
Medicare pays the hospice a set daily amount per patient, and the payment amount is well below the hospice's cost. You cannot be charged for the difference. However, the hospice can require a $5 copayment for medication and a 5% copay for any inpatient care.
Medicare measures the duration of hospice benefits using "benefit periods." The patient can elect the hospice benefit for two 90-day periods, and then for an unlimited number of 60-day periods. The patient can use the benefit periods consecutively, or take time between the periods. For example, if a person's condition is stable, hospice programs and Medicare allow him or her to sign out of the program and return again if the condition worsens. The patient's doctor must re-certify the condition as terminal at the beginning of each period.
Medicare is the primary payer for more than 80% of all hospice patients.
...
Your hospice
Your hospice also can help you with financing as well.
First, many hospices have special funds to help patients cover their costs. Gifts from the community generally support these funds. Each hospice can set its own policies for determining a patient's level of need. Also, hospice staff can help you identify local social and government programs that provide funding or special services.
Quality hospice care, unlike long-term care and nursing-home care, is one kind of end-of-life care that's within reach of most people who need and want it.
briegull, The ativan is something that a REGULAR hospice would pay for because it is related to the diagnosis for which you have them and they are the ones that ordered it. Your regular Medicare Part D does not come into play unless you get medication not related to the diagnosis for which you have REGULAR HOSPICE. Just ask your team what exactly you have, if it is REGULAR HOSPICE, you would have had to sign the part A Medicare benefits to them as far as the Alzheimer dementia diagnosis goes. You can still use Medicare part A for any illness that is not included in the Alzheimer Diagnosis, I know it is confusing.
Just find out exactly what you have so you will know if you have used a certain amount of your REGULAR HOSPICE benefit, you are first allowed 2 different 90 day certifications with regular hospice, then an unlimited amount of 60 day benefits, once you have used your first (2) 90 day benefit periods you will always have to be recertified each 60 days thereafter.
JUST FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAVE SIGNED YOU UP WITH.
When I try to go to the website you have mentioned I cannot get anything to come up???
It's there, I forget not everyone knows html! when I put in the parens as a citation.
I WILL do that Jane, find out just what he's signed up for. I can use Part A Medicare, but I'm wondering about medigap. Should I stop that? I'll check with the nurse about whether or not gabapentin and trazadone are in her formulary. They don't seem to be in all of them.
When my husband was in Hospice care, he had something new arriving day after day. From chairs, to lifts, to beds, to potty chairs, etc. etc. I actually told them that we had all we needed and they need not send us more things without discussing it first. When he died, the company came by and picked up all the equipment and his bed with gel mattress, etc. Quietly and efficiently.
briegull, you ask if you should stop using the medigap, but can use Medicare part A, Part A is for Hospital admissions and also your Hospice if you have Regular Hospice, if YOU ARE NOT ON HOSPICE you are using part B of Medicare and Part D for drugs, part C for durable medical,Medigap should also be used if you are signed up under the home health program which I really am beginning to think you are. Use your Medigap just like you have been doing, if you are on HOSPICE, it will not pay, if you are on HOME CARE IT WILL PAY, not for you to worry about, you just need to find out what you are signed up for, HOSPICE OR HOME CARE.
I don't want you to be confused, just that you really need to know what they have you on. Also if they take you off this and put you on something else just make sure you know what.
According to the nurse, L. is on Hospice, but she didn't know how the rental of the chair was paid for. But it's not me! That if he weren't on Hospice, that Medicare would pay 80% and the medigap the other 20%. This nurse, who has had a soft spot for L. for years, says he will NOT come off Hospice. She's a supervisory nurse, but I don't know why she doesn't know the finances. She's going to check about what meds are in her formulary so I'll know whether or not to re-sign up for Part D.
briegull, Good he is on Hospice so Hospice is providing the geri chair for you, they are renting it and you don't have to worry. As for the Part D I would be a little leary to come off part D. Even though they say he will never come off Hospice I have found at least in our situation, they tell me that and then one nurse leaves another comes, they get their stories different and off he comes, this has happened to me before. Once you come off part D if you ever want to go back on it you will be penalized. Also if your hubby needs a drug that is for something other than what Hospice has him for it will not be covered. Be careful
briegull, I agree it is expensive but then can be just as expensive not to have it. You just never know,if we knew these things we would not need insurance at all but since we can't tell what the future holds it is best to be safe.