As the Medicare program struggles to control expenditures, there is increased focus on
opportunities to manage patient populations more efficiently and at a lower cost. A major …

Hospice care is perceived as enhancing life quality for patients with advanced, incurable
illness, but cost comparisons to non-hospice patients are difficult to make. The very large …

This paper profiles Medicare beneficiaries' costs for care in the last year of life. About one-
quarter of Medicare outlays are for the last year of life, unchanged from twenty years ago …

In recent years, the use of Medicare-covered home health care and hospice services has
grown dramatically. Hospice care, like much home health and nonacute hospital care, is …

Hospices have been expected to reduce health expenditures since their addition to the US
Medicare benefit package in the early-1980s, but the literature on their ability to do so is …

Background Increased attention is being paid to the amount and types of medical services
rendered in the period before death. There is a popular impression that a greater share of …

Objective. To compare medical expenditures for the elderly (65 years old) over the last year
of life with those for nonterminal years. Data Source. From the 1992–1996 Medicare Current …

Background Each year more than 220,000 Medicare beneficiaries receive care from hospice
programs designed to enhance the quality of the end of life. Enrollment requires certification …

Thecoronavirusdisease2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has focused attention on stark
disparities in the US, with higher rates of infections and deaths among lower-income …

Despite its demonstrated potential to both improve quality of care and lower costs, the
Medicare hospice benefit has been seen as producing savings only for patients enrolled 53 …