Hospice:
MEDPAC PUSHES MAJOR HOSPICE PAY REVAMP
Published on Fri Jan 23, 2009
Industry not happy about proposal for abrupt change. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's newest recommendations take aim at curbing long hospice stays, and if adopted some hospices might be packing up and shutting down. The hospice benefit's startling growth since 2000, especially in the for-profit provider segment, has the influential advisory body to Congress worried about unnecessary expenditures for the industry.The current system, which pays hospices a flat perday rate for the entire hospice period, encourages unnecessary long-stay patients, MedPAC argued in its Jan. 9 meeting in Washington, D.C. Unscrupulous providers can make a hefty profit on those middle ofstay days that are paid fully but require fewer resources, said MedPAC staffer Jim Mathews. "There are very bad actors" in the hospice industry, contended Commissioner George Miller in the meeting. "I'm concerned," said Miller, who runs a health system in Ohio. Recommendation: In a measure MedPAC approved for its March [...]
