Non-Certified Hospice Cost Analysis. Final Report. Executive Summary

摘要

The purpose of the contract was to determine: the costs associated with hospices which are not certified to receive reimbursement under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, the characteristics of non-certified hospices and their patient populations, how costs vary across different types of hospices and different patient populations, and why non-certified hospices elected not to participate in the Medicare hospice benefit. The two-volume final report shows that all three models of hospice were operating, on average, below the Medicare hospice benefit cap on average cost per patient of $6,500. Ninety-four percent of the non-certified hospices patients were enrolled for less than 210 days (the original Medicare benefit limit); more than three-quarters of hospice patients had lengths of stay equal to or less than 90 days. The report notes that the three hospice types represent appreciably different cost environments.