Hospice Services

Marcia Cederdahl
Section Administrator

Outpatient and In-Home Care Services Section

A hospice must be primarily engaged in providing care and services to terminally ill patients including bereavement counseling. Hospice Services may be provided on an outpatient basis to the patient in the patient’s place of residence. Hospice services may also be provided by an inpatient hospice facility.

Hospice Services must include the following:

• Nursing services, physician services, and drugs and biologicals are routinely available on a 24-hour basis;
• All other covered services are available on a 24-hour basis to the extent necessary to meet the need of individuals for care that is reasonably necessary for the palliation and management of terminal illness and related conditions;
• Services must be provided in a manner consistent with accepted standards of practice. A hospice must accept a patient only when it reasonably expects that it can adequately meet the patient's medical, therapeutic, and social needs in the patient's permanent or temporary place of residence;
• Each patient receiving services from the hospice is entitled to receive the full range of services; and
• Each hospice that has multiple locations must provide the same full range of services required by these regulations at each location. 

Licensure means: The Department has issued a license to operate a service in the State of Nebraska to an individual, government, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other form of business operation that is legally responsible for the service's operation.

Certification means: The service is in compliance with the federal requirements 42 CFR Part 418, sub parts C, D, E and F: Conditions of Participation for Hospice Care, and is eligible to receive payment under the Medicare Program. The service must have a license prior to being certified for the Medicare Program.   For information about participation in the Medicare Program, refer to the Medicare Certification Section.