In eBenefits, apply using the Veterans On-line Application (VONAPP) to complete and submit your application online. You can also submit a paper application. To do this, download and complete VA Form 22-1990, Application for VA Education Benefits and mail it to a VA Regional Processing Office.
But such care can be expensive, costing upward of $10,000 a month, according to the Health Affairs study. That puts hospices in a financial bind. Last year, the Medicare program paid a base rate of $151 per day to cover all routine hospice services, adjusted for geographic differences.
The incremental costs incurred by patients on their last full day of hospital stay were $420 per day on average, or just 2.4 percent of the $17,734 average total cost. End-of-stay costs represented only a slightly higher percentage of total costs when the length of stay was as short as four days. Even for patients who did not have major operations, the $432 average last-day cost was only 3.4 percent of the $12,631 average total cost of care.