It may sound a bit cold blooded, but prior planning is everything for our kinds of diseases. Tis important to not be pushed into anything, especially by someone who stands to profit...

Hugs,
Dennis

Holly, thank you for bringing this to the forum. I am very near to hospice and I would rather manage as much as I can at home with out the cost of hospice service.

I talked to my doctor a few months ago and asked him, when the time came that I was physically spent and needed drugs to help ease the discomfort, would he prescribe them for me.?

His answer was absolutely not and neither would any other doctor unless hospice was in place and dispensed the drugs.

The drug I was asking about was morphine. I have managed to use and take the many different drugs, that doctors gave, as required for many years. Now that I want to take charge of at least how I live in the final stages, I am now not capable.

BTW, I tried about 20 years ago to get a long term Insurance plan and I could not find one that would take me for decent coverage because of the smoking history.

We all need to take care of Medicare and say no to those that only want to drain it in the name of care.

Denny is right. Prior planning is necessary. Your plan may not be my plan but you do need to consider what is in your best interest and something that will comfort you as you face the future.

Anna

i disagree with this and i hope articles like this & scam companies abusing the system don't start affecting the hospice program by giving it a bad name.
there are always "shysters" that will abuse any system, but my personal experience has been the opposite.
i feel i saved the government ALOT of money when i helped care for family members that were terminally ill by caring for them in home which i could not have done without the help of hospice.
my father lived 6 weeks on hospice
my younger sister lived 4 weeks
my mother had "home health care" enabled her to stay in her own home & i just had to shop & run her to dr's for almost 4 years (think how much a nursing home would have cost for that time)---
then mom lived 5 months when she was put on hospice .
the Hospice/medicare statements for mom averaged 2500.00 per month & all medicine was covered in that cost.
a double room nursing home wanted 5,000.00 to 7,000.00 plus the seperate cost for medication, 02 etc.
In the last few weeks of life, none of the family i took care of could have taken care of their own needs as they progressed to the end days.
My dr's know my wishes to die at home with hospice & family care. Both my Pulmonary Spec. & my PCP said they will make sure i get it when i need it & not before.
I think it is up to us to check our bills and make sure that if we think medicare is being charged inappropriately to send in the ''fraud form" that i am sent with each statement from medicare for services they paid for each month.

on another note; 1 trip to the ER i went to last year charged $1800.00 and they sent me home the same day.
And a previous 1 overnight stay in hospital a couple of years ago cost over $6,000.00!
i think our hospitals & all the seperate dr billings should be monitored better & being checked to see who is charging medicare too much !!

i'll get off my soapbox now, but i do think the hospice program is wonderful and i hate the thought of it possibly being banned when i might need it.

whew---of course once again this is my opinion & my experiences only.

Oh No, Jarca. I am so sorry if my comment gave the wrong impression. I don't see the article as banning hospice nor would I refuse hospice. My comment personally was that I hope to have the ability to co- manage my healthcare in the end with the aid of hospice.

My impression was that the "scam" is by providers that know the patient has much longer than the 6 months required by hospice rules but once they get approval for the care, removing a patient wouldn't be a consideration even though the provider knew that the patient was not in the last 6 months of life.

It is a delicate but necessary topic and may sound cold blooded as Denny said but Hospice is a wonderful thing when used as it should be coupled with any long range plans you might make. Such as family that will help hospice.

My Mom was in hospice care when she passed away. The family took care of her along with hospice. So every situation is different but I respect and value however you have to manage.

I so sorry if I caused a worry for you. My comment was my personal feelings only.

Hugs,
Anna

anna= you didn't cause me worry ((((HUGS))))...i was just giving "my opinion" on the article not on what you said.
i was trying to say that i think its a great organization, that i also hope to utilize as i need it, so it sucks if some "shyster" companies or doctors are misusing the system----
i think we were actually both saying the same thing, anna, LOL

sorry, i think alot of misunderstandings happen because a post happens to come up after another person comments.
i try not to post about other peoples posts/comments & stick to the subject;
if i do comment on someone's previous post i usually put their name & then answer them.
i have a hard time wording what i want to say sometimes (lack of 02 to brain?), that's why i also put it's my opinion only.
i just hope the scam companies dont ruin a good program & i worry that people reading an article like that in the post will might take it to mean all of hospice is doing this.
i too have "pre-planned" everything with my kids & have drawn up the necessary documents, to me it saves the family alot of heartache knowing just what you want.
i think it's horrid if companies and doctors are "abusing" the 6 month situation, but also they aren't god & i hope if a mistake is made with me it is for longer help...wouldn't it suck to suffer at the end & not get hospice until it's too late? (just my mind wandering again with "what ifs" LOL)

Didn't mean to cause any problems with the post, sorry.

After reading what was happening,

it made me feel so sad and angry for people who are not really dying but are told that they are and they stop all treatment when they really should continue treatment and live on.

Its a shame and abuse, and I am glad they are catching the ones that are bad and weeding them out.

True hospice is a wonderful program for those in true need of it ...

Be well everyone,

Easy breathing,

Love Holly

Holly, I don't think that this topic caused any problem. We need to have the difficult discussions as well as the support type.

I told a few of my friends but have not mentioned on the board that I remember but almost 2 years ago when I was having a difficult time , my pulmonologist, at the time, offered to put me on hospice.

At first it really scared me as I understood that it was considered to be in the last 6 months of life. Then I got angry because, having gone through that with my Mom, I knew that it was not time for me to go there yet.

Needless to say that this respected doctor in a University group could have got a 2nd signature and I would have went past go and straight on hospice.

Once you are in hospice, the doctor that would qualify you to be released is the doctor in charge of the hospice service............How often do you think that doctor is going to release patients that affect his bottom line?

Here in lies the problem that the article raised in the first place

We do have fine reputable hospice service organizations but also the scams are there and it makes us realize that we and our families should be aware of the difference.

My love to all here. You are one fine bunch.

Thank you Holly; for bringing the misuse of hospice services. Hospice was a great help the last few weeks of my sister's life. Not only did they help her; but also helped our family.
I have asked for hospice twice; and both times my Pulmonary Specialist gave me one year to live; so I did not qualify.

As a nurse working in a nursing home I found that many times the only way we could get an order for the medications needed by our terminal patients was to get the family to agree to put them on hospice. We nurses could beg the doctors for weeks for drugs but hospice could always get what was needed. I consider hospice the next best thing to legalized physician assisted suicide. They help when the doctors can 't (or won't) .