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hospice

Oversight Lacking with Hospice Providers

Posted on November 13, 2019 | by Lori Pulvermacher

When a loved one enters hospice care, the whole point is to provide peace of mind and comfort to the patient and the family. And yet a lack of regulation, oversight, and available information means that isn’t always the case.

The HSS Inspector General has found that, between 2012 and 2016, health inspectors cited 87% of hospices for deficiencies. In 20% of hospices, these deficiencies were serious – serious enough to endanger patients. For-profit hospice agencies are more likely than to have non-profits, likely because decreasing staff increases profit margins.

There aren’t many options for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to discipline hospices. They can drop hospices from the Medicare program, but they can’t assess fines or install temporary management. Many complaints can’t be substantiated, and even when they are, that information doesn’t become readily available to consumers. CMS could put citations for deficiencies and complaints on their website for consumers, Hospice Compare, but they don’t.

The CMS Inspector General has recommended that legislators strengthen hospice standards, increase inspections, streamline the complaint and investigation process, and improve accountability and availability of information. Whether we will see improvements in the near future remains to be seen.

Read more at:

  • https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/09/739471717/hospice-oig-reports
  • https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-hospice-complaint-20190216-story.html
  • https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-09/hospice-mother-california-complaint

Choosing long term care for a loved one can be challenging. We help families find good long term care and work with them on how to pay for the care. If you would like to talk about your needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Euless, Texas office by clicking the button below to schedule an appointment, or give us a call at (817) 462-5454.

 

Choose your topic and meeting time and we’ll get it on th books.
 

To comply with the U.S. Treasury regulations, we must inform you that (i) any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this newsletter was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of avoiding U.S. federal tax penalties that may be imposed on such person and (ii) each taxpayer should seek advice from their tax advisor based on the taxpayer’s particular circumstances.

Nothing in this message is intended to provide legal advice.  This message is for educational purposes only.

Posted in Caregiving, Elder Law

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800 N. Industrial Blvd., Suite 106
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Phone: 682.428.3046
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While my address is Industrial Blvd, we are actually on Clinic Drive. Look for the tall red Super Value Pharmacy sign. Whether coming from the North or the South, you will turn off of Industrial Blvd. onto Clinic Dr. Our building is located up the hill just past the Super Value Pharmacy at the far end of the building.

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