Flaws And Fraud In Hospice Care
A new federal report finds that some hospice providers are improperly taking money from Medicare and neglecting patients even as funding for the industry continues to grow. The inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services says the agency needs to step up reviews of hospice providers to ensure patients are treated properly and Medicare isn't getting bilked.
The report cited other distressing findings. Some dying patients got fewer services on weekends, regardless of the patient's level of pain. One hospice provider billed Medicare for two weeks of high-level care without visiting the patient; another provider just called the man's family to see how he was faring. The report mentioned a scam where hospice providers targeted people already in nursing homes or assisted living centers, then billing Medicare for services that patients were already getting. The cost to the government? Four times as much as basic, in-home hospice care. In 2012, Medicare spent $268 million for inpatient hospice care that patients didn't need.
The agency’s Inspector General has 15 recommendations for improvements. But the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Seema Verma, rejected half of them. |
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