Translation:
"This person suffering from hereditary
defects costs the people 60,000
Reichmarks during his lifetime. People,
that is your money. Read 'New People'."
Posted on 11/27/2007 6:50:27 AM PST by shrinkermd
Hundreds of hospice providers across the country are facing the catastrophic financial consequence of what would otherwise seem a positive development: their patients are living longer than expected.
Over the last eight years, the refusal of patients to die according to actuarial schedules has led the federal government to demand that hospices exceeding reimbursement limits repay hundreds of millions of dollars to Medicare.
The charges are assessed retrospectively, so in most cases the money has long since been spent on salaries, medicine and supplies. After absorbing huge assessments for several years, often by borrowing at high rates, a number of hospice providers are bracing for a new round that they fear may shut their doors.
One is Hometown Hospice, which has been providing care here since 2003 to some of the most destitute residents of Wilcox County, the poorest place in Alabama.
The locally owned, for-profit agency, which serves about 60 patients, mostly in their homes, had to repay the government $900,000, or 27 percent of its revenues, from its first two years of operation, said Tanya O. Walker-Butts, a co-owner. Its profits were wiped out in the time it took to open the demand letters, Ms. Walker-Butts said.
Hometown paid its first assessment with a bank loan. When the bank declined credit for the second year, the hospice structured a five-year payment plan with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers the program, at 12.5 percent interest.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The inevitable result when the government is financing health care. Circumstances change too quickly for a lumbering bureaucracy to keep up.
Don’t worry. If HillaryCare ever gets into play, you’ll die when HillaryCare decides it’s time, if not before....
You’re doing too good a job. We must punish you.
Now will we have a duty to die?
Hillary has a plan for solving the problem:
SOYLENT GREEN!
Great news for Dr.’s who specialize in geriatrics though, the money has to go somewhere....
Now, here's the interesting part...HOSPICE IS A BUSINESS, like any other. They NEED CUSTOMERS. My mother was in the hospice system for three years.
That being said, I still think it saves Medicare money. My Mom was going to the hospital every other week it seemed and she was miserable. When she said, NO MORE HOSPITALS, her doctor was the one who suggested hospice. Like many other people, I though hospice was totally end of life. I had two experiences with hospice. One with my brother who died of cancer at a wonderful facility in Claremont, CA. His stay was about two weeks. and my Dad, who died at his home with hospice care. He had the service for less than a week.
My mom was one of these people they're talking about in the article. When recommended, the doc was sure she was end of life. But when she had this wonderful hospice service at my home, as she lived with me the last seven years of her life, she just kept getting better and happier.
I still believe it's cost effective. I believe one week of intense hospital care is more expensive than a whole year of hospice and not nearly as helpful. So it's up to the government (yea, sure), to tighten up the rules or realize that people want to be comfortable towards the end of their lives, they don't want to be in a cold hospital and linger indefinitely, if possible, they'd rather be at home for a shorter time with people who love them.
Sometimes it balances out...my husband was an out-patient for five weeks, then went on hospice and died a week later.
And when we do not do our duty, we will be "helped along".
By the way, IMO, hospice care is the best thing the medical community has come up with in a very long time. It needs to be refined and explained to people.
By the way, IMO, hospice care is the best thing the medical community has come up with in a very long time. It needs to be refined and explained to people.
And when we do not do our duty, we will be “helped along”.
IN my experience that is already occuring.
Yes. It is occurring and has been for a long time.
For me it is all about quality and not quantity. Some people are so afraid to pass on that they go to heroic measures costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to extend their life for a couple of months, instead of accepting what God has deemed and being with family and friends in quality time. I never want to be a burden on my family or society when it becomes obvious that the cost/comfort ratio becomes too one sided I will go in peace, with my family and friends with me.
I agree with you completely. As usual we see government policies far from solving anything, making things worse.
the whole concept of hospice was to remove the patient from a hospital setting to their home to die......AND save the government money in the process. so it didn’t work out that way?
Bring out your dead!
CUSTOMER:
Here’s one.
CART MASTER:
Ninepence.
DEAD PERSON:
I’m not dead!
CART MASTER:
What?
CUSTOMER:
Nothing. Here’s your ninepence.
DEAD PERSON:
I’m not dead!
CART MASTER:
‘Ere. He says he’s not dead!
CUSTOMER:
Yes, he is.
DEAD PERSON:
I’m not!
CART MASTER:
He isn’t?
CUSTOMER:
Well, he will be soon. He’s very ill.
DEAD PERSON:
I’m getting better!
CUSTOMER:
No, you’re not. You’ll be stone dead in a moment.
CART MASTER:
Oh, I can’t take him like that. It’s against regulations.
DEAD PERSON:
I don’t want to go on the cart!
CUSTOMER:
Oh, don’t be such a baby.
CART MASTER:
I can’t take him.
DEAD PERSON:
I feel fine!
CUSTOMER:
Well, do us a favour.
CART MASTER:
I can’t.
CUSTOMER:
Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won’t be long.
CART MASTER:
No, I’ve got to go to the Robinsons’. They’ve lost nine today.
CUSTOMER:
Well, when’s your next round?
CART MASTER:
Thursday.
DEAD PERSON:
I think I’ll go for a walk.
CUSTOMER:
You’re not fooling anyone, you know. Look. Isn’t there something you can do?
DEAD PERSON: [singing]
I feel happy. I feel happy.
[whop]
CUSTOMER:
Ah, thanks very much.
CART MASTER:
Not at all. See you on Thursday.
My mom was 79 years old and in terrible health. He was so nice and was so sincere.
He told me age doesn't matter, he operates on people into their 90's. Think about that. There would have been families that would have said YES on the false hope that their loved one would have gotten miraculously better. Common sense tells you not to do brain surgery on an elderly person who is not in good health. Besides, the amount of her dementia was so minute...Why would I do that to my Mom?
Can you imagine how much brain surgery would cost Medicare? These are the problems we face. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
Bring a barf bag.
Having put several relatives through hospice care in Branford CT. It was noted to me by the nurses that Yale New Haven Dumps terminal patients on them at the end of every month so their Success or cure rate looks pretty good for the books.
They are a little premature though as some patients end up walking out of there after several weeks.
A side note; I always disliked actor “Rat Boy” Richard Gere until I found out he regularly visits the patients there as he lives on the water within view of the facility
It is a misconception that a hospice is exclusively a place to die. A lot of people “graduate” from hospice care. It’s one of the things that keeps the people who work there going.
Translation:
"This person suffering from hereditary
defects costs the people 60,000
Reichmarks during his lifetime. People,
that is your money. Read 'New People'."
Explain...would you put your 80 year old mother through BRAIN SURGERY? Are you insinuating what I think you are?
Freepmail wagglebee or little jeremiah to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.
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I would never put anyone I loved in a hospice.
Consider too that anesthesia can worsen dementia. Is this really wise? I had the same situation where the doc says well maybe a pacemaker would help (but maybe it wouldn’t). So a $10,000 (guesstimate) procedure for my 80-year-old father-in-law that MIGHT help? All paid for by Medicare of course. We declined and he’s doing fine, although his dementia is increasing. We’re paying $5,000 a month for memory care and resources are dwindling.
Consider too that anesthesia can worsen dementia. Is this really wise? I had the same situation where the doc says well maybe a pacemaker would help (but maybe it wouldn’t). So a $10,000 (guesstimate) procedure for my 80-year-old father-in-law that MIGHT help? All paid for by Medicare of course. We declined and he’s doing fine, although his dementia is increasing. We’re paying $5,000 a month for memory care and resources are dwindling.
Where should terminal patients go if not to hospice? Hospice has a very different objective than hospitals - to make patients comfortable.
And before you start, I am NOT saying that you should have subjected your mother to brain surgery; however, YOU are implying that none of us should have that option. I believe that in these cases, the wishes of the dying person should be adhered to as long as they are informed of the options.
Yea..dog pounds are a great concept as well. No more poop to clean up and everything is taken "care of" for you. It's so easy!
do you actually know what hospice care is? I don’t think so because you could NEVER say this if you did. I’ll refrain from saying what i really want to say because, frankly, you’re not worth my time.
Yes..I do as a matter of fact know EXACTLY what a hospice is...first hand, so tread softly with me easy button Lady.
My husband's hospice care was at home. He wanted to die at home. I am a retired nurse, I had the help of family and hospice, and I am so grateful for everything they did.
Let me qualify this...if it's an 80 year old in good health, who could basically withstand it, then it's a viable option..but to do this because, frankly, it's FREE, is ridiculous.
The reason all of this sounds cold is because we're talking about money here. That's what this article is about. If someone told you that there's a serious operation for your 80 year old mother, that MIGHT improve her quality of life a little, what would you say? If you were told the operation cost YOU $250,000, what would you say then? That's the point. Someone else is paying.
*************
Hmmm. Can't you just spend a minute or two on it?
Then you have no idea what hospice is...you could never say that if you did. Have you ever been with someone during their end of life?
I know that there are good hospices out there, but there are a lot more that seem to be more interested in speeding up death. I think it’s important to research them before using them.
Talk to me about it sweet charlotte....
Hospice care differs from state to state, even within a state. My husband was dying, he lived only 6 weeks. He spent only 3 nights in a hospital, and said that he wanted to die at home. With the help of hospice care, he was able to have that.
It is dreadful to have a bad experience with hospice, but in my opinion, we had one of the best.
No, no. My experiences aren’t really important. Please tell us all about yours. That’s what really matters.
I see the smugness is as pronounced as ever.
You seem to operate under the delusion that you are the only person who has dealt with someone dying. I have news for you, ALL of us either have or will (usually many times) have to deal with the death of loved ones; however, most of us aren't pushing the culture of death's agenda.
Than I’m sorry you had such a negative experience. The majority of people haven’t. I thank God for hospice and I send money every year to the hospice that allowed my brother to die with dignity and comfort, in a home like setting with the people he loved around him, instead of a cold hospital, being tended to by strangers who didn’t give a rat’s ass about him.
My husband was in so much pain from the cancer that he wanted to kill himself. He said as much to me. When we got hospice, we found a whole different world of pain medication that made his last week so pleasant, we were able to talk a bit, tell jokes, he could eat a little, it was almost miraculous. The end was the same, but I’m convinced that without them, he would have had an agonizing death. As it was, both of us were grateful.
*****************
Ah, the culture of death. What's the attraction for some?
Got it, it's about money.
And I suppose that if a parent or grandparent is a millionaire, then we should just kill them off so that there will be more money left over for us when they're dead.
But why stop at $250,000, why not a dollar, it all adds up.
The NY Times doesn't know the difference between "retrospectively" and "retroactively?"
I want an answer...what did I say in ANY POST on this THREAD where I encouraged DEATH..I’m so sick and tired of being accused of this. Put your money where you mouth is...SHOW ME.
She uses the death of her mother as a cover to make those who want to dump their relatives feel less guilty. It's all about the money..and keeping the socialist agenda afloat...making it easy for future generations to not take responsibility .
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