End of Life Option Act

The Elizabeth Hospice honors our patients’ self-determined life closure decisions and their right to exercise the State of California End of Life Option Act (EOLOA) while concurrently receiving hospice care.

We educate patients and families on all legal end-of-life options, including the EOLOA, so patients can choose what is best for themselves. The Elizabeth Hospice strives to provide a nonjudgmental environment where every life ends with compassion, dignity and peace. It is a privilege for us to be alongside our patients and families to provide care and support at this special time in their lives.

Under a provision of the End of Life Option Act, the attending physician is the person who prescribes an aid-in-dying drug. Federal law prohibits federal money from being used for aid-in-dying, including Medicare. The Elizabeth Hospice physician may be the consulting physician independent of the attending physician and may serve as the second opinion confirming the prognosis of the patient’s terminal disease. If a patient requests the presence of The Elizabeth Hospice during the self-administration of the aid-in-dying drug, we have staff members or volunteers available to be there.

A patient’s insurance company, including Medi-Cal,  may cover the consultations and/or medications related to the End of Life Option Act. The patient is responsible for contacting the insurance company directly for more information. If the patient does not have insurance coverage, the patient and family are responsible for covering these costs.

The Elizabeth Hospice firmly believes that no one should ever have to grieve alone. And through our grief services counseling center, that belief extends to family members and caregivers of patients who choose to exercise the EOLOA.