Some hospice patients denied access to routine care: report

July 25, 2011

Patients of for-profit hospices “are denied access to routine medical and rehabilitative care that they need to extend and improve their lives,” according to the executive director of the non-profit Catholic Hospice of Pittsburgh.

In an investigative story on the $14-billion hospice industry, Peter Waldman of Bloomberg reports that

Providers have been accused of boosting their revenues with patients who aren’t near death and not eligible for hospice--people healthy enough to live a long time with traditional medical care. In hospices, patients give up their rights to “curative” measures because they are presumed to be futile.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Preparing Americans for Death Lets Hospices Neglect End of Life (Bloomberg)