What we are talking about is nothing short of murder. As someone who has had family members in hospice care, and found the personnel to generally be very kind and caring, I have to say this story is shocking.
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It should be a matter of patient choice â not corporate policy.
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Thereâs an irony here because thereâs a bunch of anecdata that patients in hospice care tend to live longer than under conventional medical treatment (because more humane, less invasive/painful etc). But if they live too long, yeah, the Feds and insurors tend to figure they werenât dying in the first place.
This guy, however. A youngish accountant starting a heavily reimbursed end-of-life care company â it really kinda writes itself.
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I hope they have copies of those texts, as evidence. While this isnât surprising, given the world we seem to live in today, I canât believe he would be that overt with his staff and make them all accomplices.
This whole scheme doesnât make a lot of sense to me. I worked for a hospice for several years and we always lamented patients that were referred so late that proper hospice care could not be provided, and the needed support and preparation to the family (which is a big part of hospice.) The first 24-48 hours of hospice admittance are very time/service intense as you have paperwork, evaluation, consultation, ordering and delivery of supplies and equipment. To only will be able to bill for one day for all of this effort does not even make sense for this guyâs profit motive. You would need a number of billable days to insurance or Medicare, to cover the expenses of those first few hours. Somehow I donât expect that Novus was giving a lot of charitable hospice care! Despicable.
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I would expect, alas, that the first 24-48 hours of hospice care are only very time and service intensive if youâre actually providing care. (And who says that wanting the patients to die means wanting them off the books.)
The hospice law is problematic. A doctor has to certify that a patient will die within the prescribed time. The patient has to agree to receive only palliative care, which led my dad to refuse it till the last couple of weeks. But the fact of the matter is that you canât tell just when patient will die. This does put even ethical hospices in a difficult position from time to time. Itâs Congressional meddling that creates the trouble, both with the deadline for dying and the encouragement of for-profit health venture, which should be banned.
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Market-based death panels are okay, because markets.
Because in non-hospice environments, the idea/incentive is of course to get them well as efficiently as possible and close the case.
In a hospice setting, the medical objective is obviously quite different â to bring a patient in for a soft landing, so to speak. There shouldnât be the compensation emphasis on speedy recovery since nobodyâs working toward recovery. The model should be adapted to the purpose of hospice.
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Perfect example why healthcare and capitalism can never work together. Itâll never be cheaper to treat someone than it is to deny them care.
G-d bless you, Brad!
When my time comes, Iâll seek out the nearest Trump mob and simply speak the truth 
Seriously ,⌠anybody whoâs had loved ones, family, friends, exes even in hospice ⌠anything useful to add? Observations? Suspicions? Corny jokes?
So much for being able to keep your health plan if you like it. Politifact was right after all!
I had two thoughts initially:
a) This guy is looking to one day become governor of Texas. (See Florida, eg.)
b) Can we pass a law keeping (young) accountants the hell away from involvement in health care? (See Martin Shkreli.)
Letâs wait for the Republican solution: defund all Hospices.
When Sarah accused the ACA fo having death panels, it was always obvious that the death panels would be a capitalist accountant.
We had in-home hospice as there are not enough beds in hospice centers. I basically gave my M-in-law morphine whenever she had least discomfort. It allowed her to peacefully die at home with her son and grand childeren. Headingout of town right now to see if we need the same for my 90+ Mom.
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When my mother was dying of cancer, the time came when she felt the need to enter hospice. She had colon cancer which had metastasized to every organ and was even breaking through the skin. She weighed 65 lbs. Moving was excruciating. Less than 24 hours after she arrived at the hospice, I receive a call from her sister. The hospice staff were telling her than she âwasnât dying fast enoughâ and that they were going to move her to a nursing home in another county. Mom was hysterical. To make a long story short, we brought Mom to our home where she passed. I will never forgive the hospice for the fear, disrespect and pain they put her through.
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Everyone deserves a pain-free end of life. Your MIL was a fortunate lady, and on her behalf I thank you for being there for her. If your own Mom is at that stage, I hope someone is available to see her through, no questions asked. You need a lot of strength right now, and I wish you that strength and also the comfort youâll need. 
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