One of the most essential Medicare benefits for end-of-life care has a gap or two. Hospice, the end-of-life care provided by Medicare, is not often used for very long, even when patients could benefit from the care a lot sooner. Almost half of hospice patients were only admitted in the last two weeks of life—a […]
In the nation’s capital, there’s strong momentum to bring hospice benefits into Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. “There is some political inevitability to carving hospice into Medicare Advantage,” said Andrew MacPherson, principal with Washington, D.C.-based Healthsperien, a consulting and legal services firm. MacPherson recently provided a hospice policy update at the annual conference of LeadingAge, an […]
The largest for-profit hospice chain in the nation and its parent company have agreed to pay $75 million to resolve false claims allegations for hospice services, the Department of Justice announced. The resolution is the largest amount recovered from a provider of hospice services under the False Claims Act, according to the DOJ. Chemed Corporation (NYSE: […]
Fierce competition and multiple hurricanes have eroded Brookdale Senior Living’s (NYSE: BKD) home health bottom line, but the provider sees opportunity in its burgeoning hospice business. The Brentwood, Tennessee-based company is the nation’s largest private-pay senior living provider and is also a major player in home health. Brookdale’s ancillary services took a hit in the third quarter of […]
Missed visits and neglect are widespread for patients dying at home, according to an investigation of the hospice industry from Time and Kaiser Health News. The investigation took a look at 20,000 government inspection records, some of which described horrific cases that left patients in pain in their final days and families unsure of what to […]
Hospice care providers are in store for some big changes in 2018, including increasing quality reporting requirements and more data revelations on Hospice Compare. With ongoing shifts across the health care continuum, hospice providers need to be up to date on their data reporting requirements—and understand how their actions today can influence the rule making of […]
Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD), such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, are receiving hospice care too late into their diagnosis, according to recent data published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Headed by lead researcher Natsu Fukui, MD, from the Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, the study aimed to examine the characteristics […]
Hospice care is a growing sector of the health care system, and more older Americans are using the Medicare benefit than ever before. However, recent studies have shown that hospice care is used only at the very end of life, most often in the last two weeks of life, rather than for its full, six-month […]
Half of patients admitted into hospice care are admitted only within the last two weeks of their life, according to a recent study from Yale University physicians. This timeframe undercuts the hospice benefit, which can extend for six months, and reveals some of the challenges related to seniors in the last stage of their life. […]
Owner of Multiple Home Health Agencies Sentenced for Fraud The owner of multiple home health care companies and a doctor were sentenced for their roles in a nearly $60 million Medicare fraud scheme, the Department of Justice announced on August 18. Myrna S. Parcon, 62, of Dallas and Ransome N. Etindi, 57, of Waxahachie, Texas, […]
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