The Research Institute for Home Care commissioned an ATI Advisory report, which shows that early election of hospice both helps patients and saves Medicare money. The analysis further finds that if everyone elected hospice five days sooner, Medicare would save as much as an additional $1.5 billion a year, reports Liza Berger for McKnights Home Care.
Why elect hospice sooner? Patients benefit because hospice workers manage their symptoms, keep them at home and out of the hospital, and design care to meet their particular needs.
Medicare covers hospice care, primarily in a person’s home, when a doctor certifies the patient has less than six months to live. While it is almost never round the clock care at home, hospice nurses and aides come a few times a week, to bathe and groom patients and ease pain. The goal is to make sure that people are comfortable.
Patients pay little or nothing for hospice care. But, hospice agencies are generally not willing to provide the care unless the patient is safe at home when the hospice workers are not there. So, patients generally need full-time caregivers in order to get care.
In exceptional situations, people with Medicare receive hospice care in inpatient facilities.
The data show that in a given year, about two million people with Medicare are enrolled in hospice care. When they elect hospice, they forego coverage for curative care. But, Medicare allows them to opt out of hospice if they decide that they would prefer to get treatment for their conditions. More than half of all people who died in 2024 received hospice care.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Medicare hospice benefit has become a luxury
- John Oliver: The Medicare hospice scam
- Choose your hospice provider carefully
- Medicare Advantage: Hospice care is a juggle
- Private equity-owned hospice and home health agencies drive up Medicare spending, jeopardize quality of care
