Home Health & Hospice Week

Take a look at the hospice statistics and trends the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission will consider in making a potential hospice spending cut recommendation to Congress:

• Medicare's hospice spending grew from $2.9 billion in 2000 to $10.0 billion in 2007.

• Ninety percent of the growth in that time was due to for-profit hospices. In 2000, there were 1,200 non-profit hospices and about 700 for-profit, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice notes. In 2007, there were 1,200 non-profit providers and more than 1,600 for-profit hospices. Government and other type hospices grew only from about 300 in 2000 to 400 in 2007.

• Mean length of stay increased more than 30 percent from 2000 to 2005.

• Freestanding and for-profit hospices record positive Medicare margins while provider-based and non-profits show negative profit margins.

• Hospices that entered the Medicare program since 2000 have higher margins than already existing programs. New entrants are mostly for profits.

• Like home health agencies, hospices have a wide variation in margins. The 25th percentile is at a 4.7 percent margin while the 75th percentile is at a 28 percent margin.

• Short hospice stays are less profitable while longer stays are more profitable.

Source: MedPAC presentation at www.medpac.gov/transcripts/20080306_hospice_FNL.pdf.