Boston Injury Lawyer Blog
According to The New York Times, there is growing concern that Medicare fraud is being committed in the hospice care industry. Currently, Medicare pays hospice providers a flat rate of $147 to $856 a day, depending on the services rendered and the type of care provided. However, some whistleblowers have stepped forward to report that there are companies that may be taking advantage of the system and providing hospice care to patients that don’t need it.
Considered a palliative care alternative that can be rendered to patients in their homes or at a nursing home or private facility during their last days, hospice care is considered less costly than continuing to provide medical services that will not help a dying patient recover. 1.1 million Medicare clients a year receive hospice care.
However, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (an independent Congressional oversight panel) 19% of hospice patients are now get this care for longer than six months, even though to qualify one is supposed to have no more than a remaining life expectancy of just that long. Medicare’s hospice bill was over $12 billion in 2009 alone, and MedAc is concerned that the flat rate payment fee is incentive for some providers to choose to service patients who are expected to live longer than six months while they continue to get paid.
