Medicare Hospices That Focus on Nursing Facility Residents.

摘要

The Medicare hospice benefit allows a beneficiary with a terminal illness to forgo curative treatment for the illness and instead receive palliative care. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has recently raised a number of concerns about Medicare hospice care for nursing facility residents. OIG found that 31 percent of Medicare hospice beneficiaries resided in nursing facilities in 2006 and that 82 percent of hospice claims for these beneficiaries did not meet Medicare coverage requirements. Also, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) noted in a report to Congress in 2009 that hospices and nursing facilities may be involved in inappropriate enrollment and compensation.