Article

Medicare Lags In Project to Expand Hospice

Despite a three-year-old order from Congress, Medicare has yet to begin an experiment to expand hospice services to allow beneficiaries to continue potentially lifesaving treatments to see if it would save money while improving the patients' quality of life.

The demonstration project would eliminate one major reason that people are reluctant to take up Medicare's hospice benefit: they have to first agree to forgo curative treatments such as chemotherapy.

Many rapidly declining patients delay entry into hospice until their final days as they exhaust their treatment options, according to studies.

Others end up dying in hospital intensive care units, which are expensive and generally not geared to making the terminally ill as comfortable as possible

Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/1461oSn

Source: Kaiser Health News

Newsletter

Stay ahead of policy, cost, and value—subscribe to AJMC for expert insights at the intersection of clinical care and health economics.

Related Videos
Constance Blunt, MD, medical oncologist, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
David Awad, PharmD, BCOP
Constance Blunt, MD, medical oncologist, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
Ali Khawar
Ali Khawar
Emma Achola-Kothari, PhD
Dr Emma Achola-Kothani
Dr Emma Achola-Kothari
Casey Koch, PharmD, sitting for a video interview
Related Content
AJMC Managed Markets Network Logo
CH LogoCenter for Biosimilars Logo