By Kelly Kennedy
USA Today, August 7, 2011

Medicare costs for hospice care have increased more than in any other health care sector as for-profit companies continue to gain a larger share of the end-of-life medical market, government records show.

A recent report by the inspector general for Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, found for-profit hospices were paid 29% more per beneficiary than non-profit hospices.

At the same time, some of the nation’s largest for-profit hospice companies are paying multimillion-dollar settlements for fraud claims and facing multiple investigations from state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Critics say costs have also increased because for-profit organizations have cherry-picked patients who live the longest and require the least amount of care — such as those with dementia or Alzheimer’s, rather than those with cancer.

“Certain hospices seem to be seeking out beneficiaries with particular characteristics, and these beneficiaries are often found in nursing facilities,” said Jodi Nudelman, a regional inspector general for HHS in a webcast about the report.

In a growing number of cases, hospices are collecting the same daily rate for visiting patients in nursing facilities as other hospice programs that also provide patients’ room, board and medical care not related to their terminal illness.

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/08/Medicare-costs-for-hospice-up-70/49854600/1

Report of the Inspector General of HHS:
http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-10-00070.pdf

Comment: 

By Don McCanne, MD

PNHP has long advocated removing for-profit corporations, with their passive investors, from the health care equation. This report on hospices from the HHS Inspector General provides more compelling support for this view.

For-profit hospices that provide care to Medicare patients have been ripping off taxpayers by cherry-picking less expensive patients, collecting much larger fees by providing services prematurely, and, worst of all, collecting full fees for merely providing what is not much more than house-call-type services in nursing homes rather than providing the full range of services expected in hospice care. Their multi-million dollar fraud settlements don’t seem to deter them.

It is imperative that we remove passive investors and their corporate executive goons from health care.

Medicare costs for hospice up 70%

By Kelly Kennedy
USA Today, August 7, 2011

Medicare costs for hospice care have increased more than in any other health care sector as for-profit companies continue to gain a larger share of the end-of-life medical market, government records show.

A recent report by the inspector general for Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, found for-profit hospices were paid 29% more per beneficiary than non-profit hospices.

At the same time, some of the nation’s largest for-profit hospice companies are paying multimillion-dollar settlements for fraud claims and facing multiple investigations from state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Critics say costs have also increased because for-profit organizations have cherry-picked patients who live the longest and require the least amount of care — such as those with dementia or Alzheimer’s, rather than those with cancer.

“Certain hospices seem to be seeking out beneficiaries with particular characteristics, and these beneficiaries are often found in nursing facilities,” said Jodi Nudelman, a regional inspector general for HHS in a webcast about the report.

In a growing number of cases, hospices are collecting the same daily rate for visiting patients in nursing facilities as other hospice programs that also provide patients’ room, board and medical care not related to their terminal illness.

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/08/Medicare-costs-for-hospice-up-70/49854600/1

Report of the Inspector General of HHS:
http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-10-00070.pdf

PNHP has long advocated removing for-profit corporations, with their passive investors, from the health care equation. This report on hospices from the HHS Inspector General provides more compelling support for this view.

For-profit hospices that provide care to Medicare patients have been ripping off taxpayers by cherry-picking less expensive patients, collecting much larger fees by providing services prematurely, and, worst of all, collecting full fees for merely providing what is not much more than house-call-type services in nursing homes rather than providing the full range of services expected in hospice care. Their multi-million dollar fraud settlements don’t seem to deter them.

It is imperative that we remove passive investors and their corporate executive goons from health care.