A report on unethical and illegal practices in the hospice industry is out today in the mainstream media.
Look for writer Ava Kofman, ProPublica dot org, and New Yorker magazine. Title of article is "How Hospice Became a For-Profit Hustle." There is also a discussion about it on Twitter, under the author's name, Ava Kofman.
It's the trendy media ploy to post opinion as fact and to seek out extreme examples that make so many distrust what they report. I'm sure that the vast majority of hospice providers are doing an adequate job and that some even go above and beyond. But I've been on the forum long enough to have read a few horror stories about hospice services in America. In some accounts the family is in denial, sometimes it's a particular staff member, and unfortunately sometimes it seems as though there is a systemic dysfunction in an entire organization. IMO the many who staunchly defend hospice agencies and refuse to acknowledge failures is just as problematic as the other extreme.
Haven't read the article, but my own experience has been with three hospice organizations. All were for-profit, and one -- Vitas -- was terrible. None tried any kind of scamming, except perhaps Vitas if they get paid by the hour. The admitting nurse who came to do the paperwork for my dad was literally there for eight hours. I had to put my dad to bed, because he didn't have the stamina to sit at the dining room table why that woman fussed around and shuffled papers for no particular reason. (I signed up with the other two organizations in less than 30 minutes over the phone.)
I fired Vitas about two weeks into our relationship because they didn't answer their phone or return calls promptly. Their social worker gave me a hard time for wanting to reschedule a procedure for my dad so he could see his granddaughter for the last time, and the straw that broke the camel's back was when that same social worker, when I asked if there were support services for the family as well, said, "This isn't about YOU!"
I fired them the next day.
I hired a small, for-profit and family-owned hospice for the remainder of my dad's days (about three weeks), and they were wonderful. When my mom was dying in her memory care facility, I used the hospice company that was most used by other residents' families because their nurses were familiar with the MC's staff, and they all worked together seamlessly. It was a wonderful experience, and my parents passed peacefully under the care of loving, caring people.
I suggest always getting recommendations for hospice and not just using whoever the doctor tells you to use. My dad had Kaiser Permanente, and they were the ones who signed him up with Vitas. In hindsight, that's about par for the course for Kaiser.
I just saw a well stated rebuttal to the biased (the New Yorker, expected) article is on YT by Hospice nurse Penny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksHnSf7CH5A
I read the article. As a person that had a loved one on Hospice and am a Volunteer for the same Hospice this article broke my heart a bit. But I think no matter what the business is there are some that will profit from it. The old adage "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer" is true. I like to think that the majority of Hospice workers are not part of this. Like any service (medical or otherwise) you have to do your due diligence. If your doctor refers you to ONE Hospice I would seek out several and just like any other service "interview" each. It is easy to check and find out if your doctor that referred you to that ONE Hospice has a financial interest in doing so.
I am a proponent of Hospice and think that more people could benefit from it and many are referred to Hospice later than they should. I hope that people do not read this article and think that all Hospice are like this.
Wish I could remember the TV documentation that had "scouts" looking for elderly living on their own. Some how those "scouts" were able to get hold of the elderly funds/savings, plus selling the home [usually it was a condo], and selling the items in the home. The scouts were slick talking and the elderly would sign over everything.
Grown children, not knowing what happened, were unable to reach their parent via phone. When going to the parent's home, to find the residence empty, all the furniture gone. Eventually they found their love one living in senior living under a guardianship of an unknown person. Saved funds were gone, along with heirlooms, etc.
If only the elder parent would have gone to an Elder Law Attorney to place their assets into a Revocable Trust, it would have made it extremely difficult for anyone to take those funds.
I just read the article (to be honest, I skimmed the long section about a botched trial, that was to have exposed a for-profit bad actor) and it was interesting.
I was glad to read that the state of California, my state, is cracking down on the creation of new hospices. Apparently there are both shell companies and just inappropriately money-oriented outfits out there trying to bilk Medicare by both signing up people inappropriately (the article describes a person going out “recruiting” people, and making sales like a door-to-door salesman) and not providing care.
The problem is depicted as healthcare/$$$/scammers problem, not with hospice itself.
My dad’s physician of several years now recommended hospice as my dad’s condition has deteriorated. She recommended two different companies, if I recall. The one we chose we were already familiar with as we were using their home health services. I see from their website that they are a non-profit. Thankfully, they are great and are nothing like the scammers described in the article. I hope the article sheds more light on them.
I really don't understand the "for profit" vs "non profit". Don't they both use Medicare to pay for the care? If so, one should not get more from Medicare then the other?
Not sure what our local one is. At one time it was part of the hospital. I do know they ask for a donation even to the point you put them in ur Will.
Cashew, I also unsubscribed from ProPublica recently bc most of their so called articles are pure opinion which translates to B.S. Journalism has nothing to do with opinion and should stick to facts only, which seldom happens anymore.
Considering that businesses exist to make a profit, why isn’t that okay for hospice too? They provide a service, they get paid and can pay their workers. Same with hospitals. The only truly free health care is that provided by family caregivers.
I fired Vitas about two weeks into our relationship because they didn't answer their phone or return calls promptly. Their social worker gave me a hard time for wanting to reschedule a procedure for my dad so he could see his granddaughter for the last time, and the straw that broke the camel's back was when that same social worker, when I asked if there were support services for the family as well, said, "This isn't about YOU!"
I fired them the next day.
I hired a small, for-profit and family-owned hospice for the remainder of my dad's days (about three weeks), and they were wonderful. When my mom was dying in her memory care facility, I used the hospice company that was most used by other residents' families because their nurses were familiar with the MC's staff, and they all worked together seamlessly. It was a wonderful experience, and my parents passed peacefully under the care of loving, caring people.
I suggest always getting recommendations for hospice and not just using whoever the doctor tells you to use. My dad had Kaiser Permanente, and they were the ones who signed him up with Vitas. In hindsight, that's about par for the course for Kaiser.
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Well worth watching! Less than five minutes long.
on YT by Hospice nurse Penny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksHnSf7CH5A
As a person that had a loved one on Hospice and am a Volunteer for the same Hospice this article broke my heart a bit.
But I think no matter what the business is there are some that will profit from it.
The old adage "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer" is true.
I like to think that the majority of Hospice workers are not part of this.
Like any service (medical or otherwise) you have to do your due diligence. If your doctor refers you to ONE Hospice I would seek out several and just like any other service "interview" each. It is easy to check and find out if your doctor that referred you to that ONE Hospice has a financial interest in doing so.
I am a proponent of Hospice and think that more people could benefit from it and many are referred to Hospice later than they should.
I hope that people do not read this article and think that all Hospice are like this.
Probably not it. I googled elderly scams documentary.
Grown children, not knowing what happened, were unable to reach their parent via phone. When going to the parent's home, to find the residence empty, all the furniture gone. Eventually they found their love one living in senior living under a guardianship of an unknown person. Saved funds were gone, along with heirlooms, etc.
If only the elder parent would have gone to an Elder Law Attorney to place their assets into a Revocable Trust, it would have made it extremely difficult for anyone to take those funds.
That documentary was downright unnerving.
I was glad to read that the state of California, my state, is cracking down on the creation of new hospices. Apparently there are both shell companies and just inappropriately money-oriented outfits out there trying to bilk Medicare by both signing up people inappropriately (the article describes a person going out “recruiting” people, and making sales like a door-to-door salesman) and not providing care.
The problem is depicted as healthcare/$$$/scammers problem, not with hospice itself.
My dad’s physician of several years now recommended hospice as my dad’s condition has deteriorated. She recommended two different companies, if I recall. The one we chose we were already familiar with as we were using their home health services. I see from their website that they are a non-profit. Thankfully, they are great and are nothing like the scammers described in the article. I hope the article sheds more light on them.
Not sure what our local one is. At one time it was part of the hospital. I do know they ask for a donation even to the point you put them in ur Will.