Women Today

Our friends at Unity Hospice offer this information on health reform:

Late in 2009 as Congress drafted its health care reform bills, hospice agencies were taking particular note.

The House passed $10 billion in proposed cuts to the Medicare hospice benefit as part of health care reform and the Senate passed nearly $8 billion in similar cuts. Both were tied to a “productivity adjustment” designed for all health care providers. The concept assumes that providers increase their productivity over time through the use of fewer or less expensive products or increased efficiency through the adoption of new technology. Hospice, however, is a highly labor-intensive model of care where such productivity gains are not as achievable relative to other areas of our health care system.

The proposed cuts came on top of regulatory cuts already being implemented to hospice reimbursement. While the Medicare hospice benefit rates have increased annually, the regulatory cuts create smaller margins of increase. The advent of costly new drugs and treatments mean the average cost to hospices has risen much faster than the hospice benefit reimbursement rates, even before the cuts went into effect. Furthermore, hospices that are Medicare-certified must offer all services required to palliate the terminal illness, even if the patient is not covered by Medicare and does not have the ability to pay.

Hospice agencies throughout the nation have been working hard to educate the community and their legislative representatives about the threat of the cuts to hospice under health care reform. Hospice provides quality, compassionate care for people facing a life-limiting illness or injury and involves a team-oriented approach to expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient's needs and wishes. Support is provided to the patient's loved ones as well. If the proposed productivity cuts were to be implemented through the health care reform, hospices would face a 14.3 percent reduction in hospice reimbursement over the next decade, when combined with the regulatory cuts already being implemented. According to an independent-published study from Duke University, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, hospice care saves Medicare, on average, more than $2,300 per patient. Not only will the Medicare system be negatively impacted if the cuts are implemented, but so too will the patients and families, particularly those in rural areas served by small, non-profit hospice agencies. On behalf of them, please share your concerns about the proposed cuts with your members of Congress.

Unity, leaders in hospice and palliative care, provides comfort care to people of all ages throughout Northeast Wisconsin. Whether at a private home, nursing home or assisted living facility, Unity’s skilled team of nurses, physicians, social workers, nursing assistants, chaplains, volunteers and grief counselors ensure the best quality of life for both the patient and family, based on the individual’s needs and wishes. A not-for-profit health care provider, Unity is dedicated to ensuring that all individuals and the communities in which they reside have access to education, support and quality holistic care.