Certified Hospice and Palliative Assistant (CHPNA) Practice Test

What will happen if a patient revokes the Medicare hospice benefit?

1. The patient will receive a refund for services

2. The patient will lose the remaining days of the current period

3. The patient can re-enroll at any time

4. The patient will be transferred to a different facility

The correct answer is: The patient will lose the remaining days of the current period

The correct response is that the patient will lose the remaining days of the current period. When a patient revokes their Medicare hospice benefit, they essentially choose to discontinue hospice care, which means they forfeit any remaining days in that benefit period. This action is definitive and results in the patient no longer having access to the hospice services they were receiving under that benefit. It is important to note that while patients can re-enroll in hospice care later — typically after a period in which they have discontinued it — they will not be able to "carry over" remaining days from the period they revoked. Instead, they will start anew if they choose to re-enroll in the future. Other choices involved situations such as receiving a refund for services or being transferred to a different facility, which do not apply in the context of revoking hospice care. Refunds for services rendered are generally not part of the hospice benefit stipulations, and transferring to a different facility would only be relevant under specific circumstances that do not pertain to the revocation of the benefit itself.