Utah Hospices Take A Stand For Quality Care Noting the recent media stories that have highlighted issues of great concern about the quality of care provided by some hospices, Utah hospices are speaking out. “Nationally, hospice has become big business, prompting some organizations to treat patients as pure numbers designed to extract money from Medicaid,” says the article in Utah Business. The article notes how the government has been […]
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shares a detailed examination of hospice practices, developments in hospice providers, critiques of some specific hospices, and history of hospices’ evolution The report, “Preying on the Dying: Private Equity Gets Rich in Hospice Care,” critiques a number of aspects of hospice, and also offers a three-prong approach […]
FEATURED NEWS STORY FAQs on Health Spending, the Federal Budget, and Budget Enforcement Tools How much support does the federal government provide for health programs and services? The federal government provides support for health programs and services both through spending on programs and services and through tax expenditures. Federal spending on domestic and global health […]
Provision Of Hospice Care Facing Major Changes Physician Bethany Snider, Chief Medical Officer for Hosparus health, writes, “The hospice care we’ve known and loved won’t be the same 10 years from now.” This is the opening sentence in “Hospice Care’s Midlife Crisis,” a Tradeoffs’ health policy podcast with online transcript. The podcast examines evolving changes […]
CMS Issues “2024 Hospice Payment Rate Update Proposed Rule” and Solicits Feedback On 3/31 CMS issued an updated proposed rule for “Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Hospice Payment Rate.” The rule would update the Medicare hospice payments, as well as the aggregate cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Comments about the rule may be submitted until […]
CMS ISSUES “2024 HOSPICE PAYMENT RATE UPDATE PROPOSED RULE,’” AND SOLICITS FEEDBACK On 3/31 CMS issued an updated proposed rule for “Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Hospice Payment Rate.” The rule would update the Medicare hospice payments, as well as the aggregate cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Comments about the rule may be submitted until […]
Report Highlights The Values Of Medicare Hospice Care A March 2023 research study reveals that hospice care for Medicare patients “contributed to $3.5 billion in savings for Medicare in 2019.” Additionally, patients, families,, and caregivers found multiple benefits in care by electing Medicare hospice. The research is conducted by NORC, at the University of Chicago […]
NHPCO and NAHC Exploring Collaboration NHPCO and NAHC jointly announced the board decision of each organization to explore “how a stronger, unified, and more intentional approach to collaboration could accelerate the impact of work around our respective missions and on behalf of our member.” The two organizations have jointly created an “exploratory committee” that will […]
HOSPICE NOTES WellSky is offering a webinar titled “Understanding and improving Hospice Star Ratings.” Details of the webinar and registration are online at the link below. The event occurs on March 15. (Wellsky) Husch Blackwell offers a podcast, “The Rules They Are A-Changin’: CMS Proposes a Significant Change to the 60 Day Repayment Rule.” The […]
Usa Today Article Explores Finding Peace In Dying USA Today offers “Making peace with dying: How death doulas in Oregon help terminally ill die on their own terms.” The article examines Oregon’s history with legalized physician-assisted death and, more recently, “magic mushrooms,” and explores how doulas and volunteers are helping people who are near life’s […]
When End-Of Life Patients Decide To Stop Eating And Drinking “As Alzheimer’s encroached conspicuously into her life,” David Guenewald’s mother considered hastening her death so she would not burden her children. Dr. David Gruenewald is director of the Palliative Care and Hospice Service at VA Puget Sound Care System. He was surprised when his mother […]
Four National Hospice Organitions Meet With Cms To Share Concerns About Hospice Integrity In January, 2023, four national hospice groups sounded their concerns about hospice integrity and released a document that included 34 recommendations. The document was shared with CMS and Congress. Recently, the leaders of the four groups met with Chiquita Brooks LaSure, administrator […]
Propublica Says Calls For Hospice Reforms Are Growing ProPublica published “Pressure Mounts for Hospice Reform.” Author Ava Kofman, author of the recent ProPublica article about hospice ‘hustle,’ is also the writer of this latest article. Kofman first shares about the recent actions of four large hospice organizations in writing CMS and calling for significant changes […]
NHPCO Releases 2022 “Facts And Figures” NHPCO’S 2022 “Facts and Figures” examines the characteristics of hospice patients, the location and levels of care, characteristics of providers of hospice care, services of volunteers and bereavement providers, and Medicare hospice spending. The extensive document uses data from 2020 and earlier years. A profile of the users of […]
Gao Calls On CMS To Strengthen “Reporting Requirements To Better Protect” Those Receiving Hospice Care GAO publicly released a “Fast Facts” report on 1/11, calling for CMS to improve hospice reporting, making the requirements more like those for nursing homes. “This includes reporting all abuse and neglect allegations immediately – even those involving unaffiliated perpetrators.” […]
Teaching Rationally Sensitive Care Includes End-of-Life Care Learning about death is “an expected part of medical school training,” but students may not be “learning as much about dying.” Given the significant disparities in how patients experience illness, “how can we ensure that the care we provide does not also lead to difference in how our […]