For-profit hospice industry raises worries

For-profit hospice industry raises worries - UPI.com: End-of-life hospice care was once the province of charitable organizations, but 52 percent of hospices are now part of the for-profit sector. For-profit hospice industry grew by 128 percent from 2001 to 2008, while the non-profit sector grew by only 1 percent. During the same period, government-sponsored hospices increased by 25 percent.

For-profit hospices, and especially publicly traded chain providers, generate higher revenues than their non-profit counterparts by selectively recruiting longer-term patients, most of whom do not have cancer, thereby "gaming" the Medicare payment system. Medicare currently pays hospice providers a fixed per diem payment throughout a patient's stay, regardless of whether services are provided on any given day.