Hospice care saves Medicare a lot of money for people near the end of their lives There’s about a $29,000 savings associated with for-profit hospice care of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients near death The program saves money by foregoing life-extending surgeries in favor of palliative care MONDAY, Oct. 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Hospice care is a compassionate and heartfelt enterprise, involving a medical team dedicated to maintaining a person’s comfort and dignity as they face the final curtain. Now, new research shows hospice is also incredibly cost-effective as a health care service, a new report says.
For-profit hospice providers generate substantial savings for Medicare, according to a new analysis to be published in the American Economic Review . Hospice for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia patients alone saves Medicare about $29,000 per person for the first five years following diagnosis, researchers said. “Hospice is saving Medicare a lot of money,” said lead researcher Jonathan Gruber , chair of economics at MIT in Boston.
“Those are big numbers.” Hospice aims to offer an alternative to hospital care for someone nearing the end of life by sparing them unwanted medical procedures and focusing on their comfort. People opt out of their existing medical network and receive nursing care as they approach the end, either at home or in hospice facilities.
Generally, hospice patients are expected to have six months or less to live. In recent decades, hospic.
