National News
CBS News Video May 28, 2008
Hospice Coverage Contested
Hospice providers are trying to overturn legislation that caps coverage for terminally ill patients at six months. Thalia Assuras reports.
Link to original online video Here
The New York Times November 27, 2007
In Hospice Care, Longer Lives Mean Money Lost
Hundreds of hospice providers across the country are facing the catastrophic financial consequence of what would otherwise seem a positive development: their patients are living longer than expected.
Link to original article here
scrippsnews March 30, 2008
Hospices penalized when patients live longer than expected
Lois Armstrong and other hospice providers thought it was a positive move when the federal government decided a decade ago to make their services more readily available to patients dying of diseases other than cancer.
Link to original article here
The Health Policy NewsStand February 27, 2008
U.S. District Judge Says Hospice Policy On Multi-Year
Stays Is Invalid
Stays Is Invalid
A U.S.District judge this month sided with an Oklahoma-based hospice that argues HHS' policy to count a hospice patient's cap allotment for only one fiscal year, even if services are provided over multiple years, is contrary to Medicare statute and therefore invalid.
Newsday November 26, 2007
Medicare formula puts hospices in tight squeeze
…Penny-pinching Congress and Medicare's bureaucratic bean-counters are threatening dozens of Medicare hospice programs as well as those supported by private insurers.
Inside CMS November 1, 2007
Domenici Asks Finance Leaders To Consider
Hospice Cap Moratorium
Hospice stakeholders seeking to stop CMS from collecting millions of
dollars in overpayments for exceeding what they consider an outdated and
unfair Medicare payment cap recently got a boost from a powerful GOP
lawmaker.
Inside CMS June 28, 2007
Hospice Advocates Say Payment Cap Costing Them $200 Million
Industry stakeholders are pressing Congress to fix a Medicare policy that caps the aggregate amount of payments any hospice program may receive, leaving many of these end-of-life programs in a financial quagmire…
Local News
Jackson Advocate April 3, 2008
New Hope For Hospice Patients
Last month, Sen. James Inhofe and Rep. John Sullivan, both Republicans from Oklahoma, introduced legislation in Congress to ensure that dying Medicare patients have access to the hospice services Congress promised them.
Tulsa World March 7, 2008
Measures Would Help Hospices
Two Oklahoma lawmakers introduced bills Thursday that they say would save hospices from financial ruin and their terminally ill patients from being denied care or forced into more costly options.
Link to original article here
Albuquerque Journal November 27, 2007
Hospice Providers Hurting Financially
People Live Longer But Pay Is the Same
People Live Longer But Pay Is the Same
Independent hospices in New Mexico and across the country are operating under a 25-year-old Medicare reimbursement formula that was written exclusively with terminal cancer patients in mind.
Link to original article here
LAS VEGAS SUN November 18, 2007
Editorial: A morbid six-month deadline
Medicare hospice patients who live longer than expected lose their coverage
The Birmingham News November 11, 2007
Medicare bills loom over state hospices
Almost half exceed federal caps on services
THE OKLAHOMAN October 24, 2007
Cap on care puts hospice in financial dilemma
When Medicare opened up coverage, it overlooked funding.
Link to original article here
THE OKLAHOMAN October 15, 2007
Hospices must pay millions
Oklahoma hospices must return millions in Medicare funds because their terminally ill patients lived too long.
Link to original article here
THE UNION APPEAL September 5, 2007
Local hospice spearheads national campaign
Representatives from local hospices met on August 23 to discuss changing an archaic piece of federal legislation that governs the way they are reimbursed by Medicare.
WTOK TV August 23, 2007
Hospices Seek Law Change
In 2005, 62% of Mississippi’s hospices were asked to return over $45 million to Medicare. Area hospices met with representatives of NAHA on Thursday, August 23, 2007 in Meridian, Mississippi.
Link to original video clip and transcript here
Download PDF of transcriptThe Bolivar Commercial August 16, 2007
Some hospices asked to return funds to Medicare
Monette Hospice, Inc. serving dying people in nine Mississippi Counties, including Bolivar, is facing serious consequences as the result of a dated rule in the Medicare Hospice Benefit Program. Several Mississippi hospices across the state are being asked to refund hundreds of millions of Medicare dollars they were paid to care for hospice patients that are living longer, according to the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.
The Daily Ardmoreite August 6, 2007
End-of-life aid getting squeezed
Hundreds of hospices across the country may be forced to cut services or repay millions of dollars because of Medicare reimbursement rules.
Link to original article here
Ada Evening News August 6, 2007
Hospice care threatened by obscure Medicare rule
ADA — Victory Home Health and Hospice and Indian Territory Home Health and Hospice serving dying people throughout Southern Oklahoma are two of hundreds of American hospices facing devastating consequences as the result of an obscure rule in the Medicare hospice benefit.
Link to original article here
Tulsa World June 28, 2007
Caps create crunch: Hospices push for benefit flexibility
State and national hospice officials are calling on the government to address Medicare's spending limits for end-of-life care — which is leaving some Oklahoma hospices with mounting bills and few options but to close.
Link to original article here
Tulsa World June 26, 2007
A growing threat to hospice care
Congressmen call for moratorium on hospice cap.
Link to original article here
Tulsa World June 23, 2007
Government bills hospices for patients' longer lives
Link to original article here