Paying for Palliative Care, Hospice Care, and Grief Support
We serve everyone in our region regardless of their ability to pay.
Paying for Palliative Care
Palliative care is a medical specialty and a partnership between a patient, their doctor, and our Harbor Palliative Care team. The goal is to relieve symptoms and side effects from the patient’s serious illness or treatments. Most insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, cover all or part of the medical consultations with our Harbor Palliative Care team, with little or no copay.
About twenty-five percent of our Harbor Palliative Care services, like the specialized help from our social workers, are not covered by insurance. However, we provide these services at no cost to patients because we know how important they are. We rely on the community and generous donors to help us cover these costs.
As a palliative care patient, we will talk with you about “advance care planning.” This can help you decide what kind of healthcare you want or don’t want in a medical crisis and who will speak for you if you can’t speak for yourself. We offer advance care planning to all our palliative care patients at no charge.
If you feel you can benefit from palliative care, talk to your doctor and request a referral to Harbor Palliative Care. As with all our care, we welcome your call and your questions. Let us help.
Paying for Hospice Care
Harbor Hospice proudly accepts any patient in our region who has been diagnosed with less than six months to live and who has chosen to transition to hospice care. We serve all patients regardless of their ability to pay for hospice care and whether or not they have any form of insurance. And we will work with patients and families to ensure they have access to our programs and services.
Figuring out the cost of hospice care can be complicated and stressful, especially when you’re deciding if you or a loved one needs it. Let us help you.
Our Harbor Hospice Intake Specialists will provide you with information about insurance benefits and funding from community sources. Because of the generous support of people and companies in our five-county service area, we never turn away a patient for lack of being able to pay for hospice care.
Here is some general information about insurance coverage to get you started:
- Hospice care is covered to some extent by most insurers, including Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, most commercial insurers, and Health Maintenance Organizations.
- For example, for patients who are expected to live six months or less, Medicare covers 100% of all hospice team services, plus items such as the patient’s medications, durable medical equipment, and medical supplies related to the patient’s terminal illness or medical condition.
- Room and board at our Leila and Cyrus Poppen Hospice Residence are considered custodial care and are not covered under Medicare. If you have insurance other than Medicare, you will likely be responsible for paying for room and board at the Poppen, or you may find there are co-pays or deductibles that apply. We invite you to talk with us and let us walk you through the process.
Please do not worry if you or your loved one has no insurance and is not enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid. We will work with you to be sure your family gets the best compassionate, skilled hospice care available from Harbor Hospice. Please contact us for more information.
Paying for Grief Support
All our grief support services are free and available to anyone in our five-county service area.
We welcome you if we know you because we took care of your family member or friend. And we welcome you if we’ve never met. About half the men and women who come to us for grief support lost their loved ones suddenly. Grief support can be life-changing. That’s why we offer it to adults and children for free.
You can choose the support that works best for you. We can help, whether you prefer individual counseling or if you’d like to join a support group for people with similar losses, like the death of a child or partner.
Most counseling sessions and group meetings take place at our Bob and Merle Scolnik Healing Center in downtown Muskegon at 1050 W. Western Avenue, Muskegon, MI 49441. Our counselors can also meet with clients in their homes.
For children ages six to fourteen who have lost someone close, we offer a three-day, two-night Camp Courage every June. The only cost to families is a $10 application fee, which we waive if needed.
Your loss matters and there is no time limit when you’re struggling with grief. If you think you need help, or if others who care about you are suggesting that you reach out for support, please contact us to receive more information or to speak with a grief counselor.
We are here to help when you need us.
