My husband has COPD, CORONARY DISEASE GLAUCOMA, PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE, CAROTID ARTERY DISEASE, LUMBAR DISC DISEASE, HYPERTENSION. Has been on Hospice for 2 years, and now they have decided to release him citing he is stable. Our Hospice is a for profit facility and now that he is worse than ever, they have decided to release him based on financial concerns rather welfare of patient.
What "condition" was the reason he was accepted for Hospice? Was it the COPD? or Coronary disease? If he has been stable with both that would be the reason he is going off Hospice.
You can always contact another Hospice.
The one I/we used was a Not for Profit Hospice but they all..again ALL have to follow Medicare guidelines for continuing or re-certification on Hospice.
I know several people that have had the same thing happen, it is like getting the rug ripped out from under you when they are removed from Hospice. All the help, education and support goes away, all the equipment goes, all the supplies are now your responsibility to have to go get rather than having supplies and medication delivered.
But, suppose everyone agrees that hospice is not the right service for him because he wants to continue to receive more than palliative care. Would that make it impossible to provide him with what he needs? If so, how would it?
How is your doctor squaring his aggressive therapeutic approach with his recommendation that your husband should not be discharged from hospice?
As someone said, it appears that he no longer qualifies for hospice if he has not passed away in 2 years! 2 years. Yes COPD is a slow progressive disease. You say you’ve had to push the staff to treat infections on hospice as well. And if hospice presents medical records to prove he is not at end of life why would you want him on hospice where you know you will continue to have the battles about treating him when he gets an acute infection?
Plan B is warranted as the decision may not be in your favor.
If it isn't a residential-type hospice, and the discharge means only that this organisation will not be providing palliative care services any more, what do they recommend as the best option for him? Have you discussed with them what happens next?
As for appealing the decision: you would have to demonstrate that your husband does meet the criteria for hospice. With a two year medical history exceeding life expectancy on admission, and no sign of deterioration, this is going to be a challenge. You say that he is worse than ever: do you have medical opinion(s) to back that up?
I just found a very interesting article about "involuntary discharge" which discusses several of the issues but also explains:
"APPEALING AN INVOLUNTARY DISCHARGE
Patients have rights to appeal denials from Medicare, Medical Assistance, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and private insurance companies. Contact the insurance company for information about the appeals process."
So that sort of puts us back to square one: what organisation are you appealing to, exactly?
View this is as positive.
This is doesn’t mean he won’t get medical care, hospice may not be the appropriate type of care for him now.