Rise of hospice care

Hospice care

The last 25 years in America has seen the rise of hospice care as many Americans turn to hospices for end-of-life care.

The figures have risen from 25,000 people in 1982, to 1.45 million people in 2008, as more people make the decision to live out their final days in a home or a patient facility which encompasses the feel of home, rather than spending their days in a hospital desperately trying often aggressive treatments.

Over the last decade, Medicare reimbursements for hospice have also risen, allowing more hospices to open without having to rely on fundraising for survival, said Christy Whitney, chief executive of Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado in Grand Junction to the LA Times.

A hospice is the only Medicare benefit that includes pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, twenty-four hour/seven day a week access to care and support for loved ones following a death.

Making a decision

The decision to enter a hospice is never an easy one. Even once the decision is made, arranging for hospice care requires the acknowledgment of unpleasant realities, which doctors themselves may hesitate to discuss.

Hospices are available to anyone with a terminal illness who has decided to stop seeking curative treatment. The initiation of hospice care requires a referral from a doctor certifying that the person has been diagnosed with a disease or illness that, if it ran its normal course, would result in a prognosis of six months or less to live. That doesn't limit patients to six months of care, though.

"You can continue receiving hospice as long as you're still terminally ill," Schumacher says. In 2008, the median number of days that patients received hospice care was 21.4 days, and the average was 69.5.

About 84 percent of hospice care is paid for by Medicare, and most insurance companies cover it. But hospice services are provided without regard to the ability to pay, and many have programs to help families pay if they lack the coverage or means.

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