United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-09-18 monographic deposited born digital 18 p. GA 1.13:T-HEHS-00-201 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201 P0b002ee180372ab1 f:he00201t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201 T-HEHS-00-201 Health care programs Long-term care Patient care services Health resources utilization Health care cost control Health care facilities Home health care services Medicare Program Testimony HEHS Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed issues related to the use of Medicare's hospice benefit, focusing on: (1) the patterns and trends in hospice use by Medicare beneficiaries; (2) factors that affect the use of the hospice benefit; and (3) the availability of hospice providers.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the number of Medicare beneficiaries choosing hospice services has grown substantially during the past decade--nearly 360,000 beneficiaries enrolled in 1998, more than twice the number that elected hospice in 1992; (2) cancer patients account for more than half of Medicare hospice users, but the most dramatic growth in use is among persons with other terminal conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease, stroke, or Alzheimer's disease; (3) although more beneficiaries are choosing hospice, many are doing so closer to the time of death; (4) half of Medicare hospice users are enrolled for 19 or fewer days, and service periods of 1 week or less are common; (5) many factors influence decisions about whether and when to begin hospice services, including physician practices, patient preferences and circumstances, and general awareness of the benefit among professionals and the public; (6) along with these factors, federal oversight of compliance with Medicare eligibility requirements may also have affected hospice use; (7) growth in the number of Medicare hospice providers in both urban and rural areas and in almost every state suggests that hospice services are more widely available to program beneficiaries than in the past; (8) at the same time, hospice officials report increased cost pressures from shorter patient enrollment periods and the use of more expensive forms of palliative care; (9) because data on provider costs are not available, however, the effect of these factors on the overall financial condition of hospice providers is uncertain; and (10) the Health Care Financing Administration is beginning to gather information from hospice providers about their costs, which should allow the adequacy of Medicare hospice payment rates to be evaluated in the relatively near future. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201/html/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201.pdf GAO/T-HEHS-00-201 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-00-201 Testimony GAO/T-HEHS-00-201; Medicare: More Beneficiaries Use Hospice; Many Factors; Health care programs Long-term care Patient care services Health resources utilization Health care cost control Health care facilities Home health care services Medicare Program