Dive Brief:
- Around one in three hospice patients do not receive information to help them understand what hospice care entails, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General.
- In 14% of instances reviewed, providers in charge of approving hospice care did not follow two key requirements of the Medicare hospice benefit - The beneficiary signs an election statement and a physician certifies the beneficiary as terminally ill..
- The OIG recommends hospice care providers improve election statements and ensure physicians meet requirements when recommending hospice care.
Dive Insight:
OIG stated they had investigated numerous cases in which hospices submitted fraudulent claims for patients who were not appropriate for hospice care. Patients placed in hospice care often do not belong there, The Washington Post reported.
According to the OIG report, patients were often not informed that choosing hospice care meant foregoing a potential cure for their disease. To enter hospice care, patients must sign a statement electing such care and receive a physician certification that they are terminally ill.
Hospice care is a big business. In 2013, hospice care cost Medicare $15.1 billion for 1.3 million beneficiaries, according to the Post. If the OIG gets its way, hospice care providers will have to double check that their patients are dying before they can cash in.