Medicare Hospice Spending Nearly Doubled Over the Past Decade

In this The Epoch Times article, Sylvia Xu reports that Medicare hospice spending nearly doubled over the past decade to $28 billion in 2024, driven by per-patient payments rather than services rendered, resulting in billions in overpayments.

• The Government Accountability Office found $7.6 billion in overpayments (83.5% rate) for undelivered or insufficient routine home care from 2022 to 2024.
• The payment structure incentivized providers regardless of care frequency or patient condition, attracting fraudsters and leading to more for-profit hospices.
• CMS has revoked over 200 hospices in several states, suspended new enrollments, and plans transparency measures like flagging non-compliant providers on Care Compare.
• CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz emphasized hospices should provide dignified end-of-life care, not enable fraud, amid cases like a Houston scheme billing over $110 million for non-terminally ill patients.
• Patient numbers grew from 1.4 million in 2015 to over 1.8 million in 2024, contributing to rising costs alongside policy issues.

Read the full story:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/medicare-hospice-spending-nearly-doubled-over-the-past-decade-6061470