Hospice and Medicare – At Odds?
Hospice has come to be synonymous with helping people at the end of their lives die with dignity. It is not an easy situation. It is difficult for the patient, difficult for the family and difficult for the hospice provider.
The majority of hospice providers are caring people who extend themselves to patients and their families at the worst time imaginable. Since illness at the end of one’s life is not an exact science, even patients who would seem to have weeks or months to live can defy the odds and live much longer. This is, of course, a very positive situation for many families, as long as the patient is not suffering.
As if all of this is not enough, picture payment issues with Medicare. For instance, imagine a hospice that is providing care for a number of people – patients who have lived longer than Medicare will pay. What should a provider do? Stop taking care of these patients? Once the hospice has obtained the allotted number of extensions and is out of funding, what should they do with the patient that is still holding on to life?
This is a question that has been taken to Capitol Hill and is being examined carefully. A number of hospice administrators are trying to sort out this issue. There are some who are millions in debt to Medicare – in fact, Medicare has told them that they need to pay up or declare bankruptcy. This is a very difficult situation for individuals to be in when they have spent their lives trying to help and care for patients and families who are suffering one of the ultimate issues humans can go through.
It will be interesting to see how this situation is solved and what happens to this most essential and delicate service that is rendered at the most vulnerable time in a family’s life. Hopefully there will be a way to address this issue and solve this problem without compromising caregivers or the people they serve.
