Hospice care in Ventura County: call to check your area

Which Ventura County communities should call to check?

Distances are rough road miles. Drive time depends on Los Angeles traffic and is often more than two hours each way.

Why we ask Ventura County families to call first

Hospice depends on a nurse being able to reach you when symptoms change, including at night. From San Bernardino, every route to Ventura County runs the full width of Los Angeles County, along the 210 and 118 freeways to Simi Valley or the 101 to Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura.

A hospice should serve only places it is licensed for and can reach reliably. So for Ventura County we make no general promise on this page, and we do not describe a Ventura-based team or promise after-hours visits there. Call the main office for an individual assessment.

Choosing hospice is your decision. You can stop hospice at any time and return to regular Medicare coverage. You have the right to choose your hospice. If a closer hospice would serve you better, we will tell you. You can list the Medicare-certified hospices that serve your ZIP code on Medicare Care Compare (opens in a new tab), and check any of them with how to verify a hospice.

Medi-Cal in Ventura County: Gold Coast Health Plan

Ventura County is a county organized health system for Medi-Cal. The county's plan is Gold Coast Health Plan, a public plan that serves only Ventura County, plus Kaiser Permanente for people who meet Kaiser's rules for joining. Medi-Cal covers hospice, and when you are in a managed care plan, hospice is arranged through that plan.

These are the county's plans. Naming them here does not mean Beta Hospice has a contract with them. Whether we are contracted with your plan is checked for each patient. Call us at (909) 347-7000 with your plan card and we will tell you where things stand before care starts.

Medicare works the same way in every county. Medicare covers hospice care related to the terminal illness. Under Medicare, most people pay nothing for hospice care itself. There can be a copay of up to $5 per prescription for symptom medicines and 5% of the Medicare amount for inpatient respite care. Medicare does not pay room and board where you live. Read paying for care.

If we can serve your address

Care would come to the person: a private home, a nursing facility, an RCFE (residential care facility for the elderly) or a board-and-care home, in coordination with facility staff. Read about hospice care and palliative care.

Short inpatient stays are part of the hospice benefit: general inpatient care when medically necessary during a symptom crisis, and respite care for up to 5 days at a time. If Beta can serve a Ventura County patient, the team verifies an appropriate contracted setting and available bed before arranging any transfer.

Physicians and discharge planners with a Ventura County patient should call before sending a referral, or note the patient's city on the refer a patient form so we can answer the service-area question first.

Local help lines in Ventura County

These are public services, not part of Beta Hospice. They are useful whichever hospice you choose.

• 211 Ventura County. Dial 2-1-1 anywhere in the county for referrals to food, housing, transportation and caregiver help, all day, every day.
• The county's Area Agency on Aging. Ventura County government runs its own Area Agency on Aging for county residents. It connects older adults and caregivers with meals, caregiver support, fall prevention classes and Medicare counseling (HICAP). California's statewide aging information line, 1-800-510-2020, routes you to it.
• In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). A county-run Medi-Cal program that can pay for a caregiver's hours at home. IHSS is separate from hospice and the two can be used together.

Ventura County hospice questions