@vijay26: Having a pacemaker is not a contraindication for hospice enrollment if a person is deemed to have a life expectancy of 6 months or less. A pacemaker does not in itself prolong life, it works to fix the hearts electrical rhythm; it cannot prolong the beating of the heart if the heart muscle wears out or the vessels leading to or from the heart are occluded. A pacmaker cannot prevent death from other causes, such as cancer or major organ failure - for example, advanced kidney disease, advanced dementia or liver or heart failure like cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle). A pacemaker does not provide shocks to the heart as you might hear about or see on TV that brings a person back to life - that is a defibrillator.

Sometimes there are illustrations or actual models that can help demonstrate exactly how a pacemaker works. May I ask if you or someone you know is in this particular position? If so, has a discussion been held with the hospice case manager to explain the rationale for this in greater detail?