What if Hospice Patients aren’t Terminal?
One patient admitted to hospice care in 2002 was still healthy enough in 2007 to stroll around his yard at home, she found. Another patient received hospice care for four years.
Four in 10 Medicare beneficiaries now use the hospice benefit before they die. Patients agree to forgo treatments aimed at prolonging their lives, but can receive pain-relieving medication to ease the symptoms of a terminal illness, as well as attention from nurses, social workers and others … The median time spent in hospice care now is just 17 days.
Full article on Medicare beneficiaries using hospice care.
More people gaming the system? No kidding?
I have read about this. How do you give people care they need but also make sure that there is no abuse of the system? It is a big problem, especially as more and more people will require hospice care.
More to the point given the increased interest in death panels, how do you predict exactly when someone is going to die?
Well, I think there’s nothing wrong; hospice care is indeed a place where ill people being treated and if the person doesn’t feel good it’s their right to go to where they know they can be treated well.
Monroe Hospice