Comments on: Hospice Owner Fights Rising Medicare Debts

Unfunded Congressional Mandate Sticks Hospice Owner Bobbie Fleming With $3 Million Bill

[jessidawn87]

Myself and all of the empolyees at the hospice i am empolyed at will agree with Bobbie Fleming. It isn''t easy to take away the help you have provided for a patient just because they have lived to long. This is exactly what medicare expects hospices to do. I hope that the decision of congress will benefit hospices so that many hospices, including ourself, will be able to continue to provide the care that our staff gives to our patients.

[chasdh]

Hospice is a wonderful program and I have seen it help many people. I love my job with hospice and I dislike seeing a hospice punished for doing the right thing and taking care of a terminally ill person. It is wrong to punish the patient, their family and the hospice that provides the service just because medicare feels that they should die in six months or less. If a patient continues to meet the guidelines then they are eligible for hospice. I think that if medicare is going to give a patient unlimited time on hospice then the hospice should be able to bill and keep the money for which they bill. Hospice provides a terminally ill patient with nursing care, a home health aide, spiritual counseling, a social worker, and different types of therapy, along with providing all medicine that is related to the terminally diagnosis all medical supplies and equipment that the patient needs. The money that is paid to the hospice by medicare is put to good use and is spent wisely. I think by making hospice pay back money that some people will let their patients go at the end of the six months because they dont wont to be penalized and have to pay back large amounts of money, then that leaves the patient out in the cold with no help which is wrong. I hope that medicare will think about what their doing and if they need to cut back spending that they will find another area to do so not one that is so important and needed by so many people.

[jgodwin5]

VASOCWKR---YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!!Medicare does not look at a case by case basis to see if patients were appriate. You can have 100% appriate patients with great documentation to that affect and medicare''s going to day "so what, pay us our money back." It''s a numbers game to them.

[jgodwin5]

It''s not hospices with a CAP problem that are doing something wrong. Many hospices don''t have CAP problems becuasue they discharge patients after 6 months if they don''t die. Some tell patients that Medicare only covers 6 months of service and others just admit "to soon" and discharge quickly to "steal the CAP." If you really understood CAPs you would see that the people with CAP problems are doing the right thing...taking care of people that qualify for hospice until the day they die. That may be in 3 months, six months, or maybe a year, but it''s on God''s timetable. Keep doing the right thing and it will payoff in the end.

[l7201613]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I work for this hospice as a office manager and know for a fact that paperwork is filled out correctly because you cannot bill for any services without proper documentation. Trust Me when I say Ms. Flemming is a "stickler" when it comes to accurate documentation and proper procedure of rules and regulations. She not only has compassion for her patients she has it for her employees. Government is trying to calculate death timetables and there is no such thing. We all know only one person holds all the markers when our time is up. Many hospices in our areas have closed and left employees without pay. Although Medicare has put this burden on Ms. Flemming we have continued to work and receive our payroll. At times it has been late but nevertheless we received it and she hasn''t thrown her patients or employees out on the street. Continue the fight Ms. Flemming you will be blessed many more times than the government has control over. The government should quit changing the rules when they run short on money. These people have paid their hard earned dollars and deserve respect and dignity until their days are over here on earth. Thank you for the job and the opprotunity to work for such a dedicated company. sign me a Laurelite

[prohospice]

Reponse to neg1920 - yes there may be hospices that don''t have CAP issues right now, but what about the many hospices that ARE having Cap issues and that are going out of business because Medicare has sent them a bill DEMANDING payment for millions? I don''t see how it''s right for Medicare to request that Hospices pay millions of dollars back to them. This money has been spent on patient care!! I agree with darnedsocks maybe our gov''t should stop caring so much about the illegals in this country and focus on our aging citizens!

[prohospice]

Reponse to neg1920 - yes there may be hospices that don''t have CAP issues right now, but what about the many hospices that ARE having Cap issues and that are going out of business because Medicare has sent them a bill DEMANDING payment for millions? I don''t see how it''s right for Medicare to request that Hospices pay millions of dollars back to them. This money has been spent on patient care!! I agree with darnedsocks maybe our gov''t should stop caring so much about the illegals in this country and focus on our aging citizens!

[peanutsgigi]

The cap is not about a few providers admitting ineligible patients as some would insist. It is a provider regulation that is now inconsistent with an eligible patient''s unlimited benefit. The CMS change to the benefit in 1998 created a different picture of the typical hospice patient--no longer short stay cancer patient. CMS began to actively promote hospice in 2000 and last year the Duke Study confirmed that hospice is "the rare situation whereby something that improves quality of life also appears to reduce costs.%u201D As a certified hospice and palliative care RN, I am glad that the hospice that provides care for my 106 year old grandmother in another state has not chosen to "manage" their cap by discharging a clearly eligible patient because she has lived too long. Thanks for bringing the issue to a very public forum for discussion.

[dcforhospice]

I also work for Hospice in rural Oklahoma. It saddens me to see how this issue has become so divided. I have often asked myself who will care for the dying if we can no longer afford to stay in business. Our hospice has hit the CAP and has had the courage to also stand up for what we know to be right and in the best interest of those dying. Just this week I went to a patients funeral and was reminded how each moment is cherrished for families we serve. Many wish for more time they do not have and would be saddened to see that living more than Medicare allows has put such a burden on the hopsice that served them. I think until you have walked in a patient or families shoes how can you know how important one more day, week or month of life be when hospice has improved the quality at less cost to the government. I truly feel blessed every day knowing we do the right thing. Yes we have patients who get well enough to no longer need our service and we rejoice at those moments. Sadly most die, with some taking longer than Medicare allows. I applaud CBS for featuring the human side of death that may some day become lost if we do not stand up for those dying. After someone dies do we still hear their need? All some hear is silence and continue on. It would be great to get the story from the hospice patient faced with their hospice closing because Medicare does not hear the need because they did not die soon enough.

[darnedsocks]

THIS IS B.S.! MEDICARE NEEDS TO PONY UP AND PAY FOR END-OF-LIFE HOSPICE CARE FOR THE TERMINALLY ILL UNTIL THEY CROAK! IF MEDICARE WANTS TO SAVE MONEY, PERHAPS THEY SHOULD MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT PAYING FOR THE CARE OF "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS"! THAT WOULD SAVE BILLIONS!