Thread: Medicare paying for trips to casinos?

With Medicare costs soaring as baby boomers age, you would think spending would focus on essential health care needs. In 2010, 84 percent of patients receiving hospice care were covered by Medicare but a recent AP report suggests the definition of “hospice” is changing.

One hospice caregiver stated, “We come in and help people go golfing or go snowbird down to Florida, or go out to dinner several nights a week. We help them get to the casinos on weekends.”

Is this an appropriate use of Medicare funds?

Source: With boomers coming, hospice industry diversifies

Originally Posted by Robert Urbanek

With Medicare costs soaring as baby boomers age, you would think spending would focus on essential health care needs. In 2010, 84 percent of patients receiving hospice care were covered by Medicare but a recent AP report suggests the definition of “hospice” is changing.

One hospice caregiver stated, “We come in and help people go golfing or go snowbird down to Florida, or go out to dinner several nights a week. We help them get to the casinos on weekends.”

Is this an appropriate use of Medicare funds?

Source: With boomers coming, hospice industry diversifies

No.
It's fraud.

Originally Posted by USA-1

No.
It's fraud.

Agree. Big time fraud.

Originally Posted by Robert Urbanek

With Medicare costs soaring as baby boomers age, you would think spending would focus on essential health care needs. In 2010, 84 percent of patients receiving hospice care were covered by Medicare but a recent AP report suggests the definition of “hospice” is changing.

One hospice caregiver stated, “We come in and help people go golfing or go snowbird down to Florida, or go out to dinner several nights a week. We help them get to the casinos on weekends.”

Is this an appropriate use of Medicare funds?

Source: With boomers coming, hospice industry diversifies

Medicare costs are rising roughly 40% less than the private industry insurance has in the last 40 years.

But I'd agree that golfing should not be funded by Medicare. Medicare, with the lower costs to seniors, does allow more economic benefits, by allowing seniors to spend more money in the economy.

Originally Posted by USA-1

No.
It's fraud.

I'm not so sure that it is, unless I missed an important point somewhere.

While it says that some hospice care centers are branching out into other things like the golf outings, travel to Florida, etc., I didn't see anything that said these services were being paid for by Medicare or Medicaid.

The core hospice services, yes - visiting patients at home, or taking are of patients in a nursing home like setting, with services appropriate to those settings. Checking basic health stats, dispensing medications, etc. I can't imagine a Medicare health code that would pay for a golf outing or vacation, though.

Originally Posted by NiteGuy

I'm not so sure that it is, unless I missed an important point somewhere.

While it says that some hospice care centers are branching out into other things like the golf outings, travel to Florida, etc., I didn't see anything that said these services were being paid for by Medicare or Medicaid.

The core hospice services, yes - visiting patients at home, or taking are of patients in a nursing home like setting, with services appropriate to those settings. Checking basic health stats, dispensing medications, etc. I can't imagine a Medicare health code that would pay for a golf outing or vacation, though.

I guess I assumed taxpayers were footing the bill. If not, there is nothing wrong with it.

It sounds like they have expanded the scope of what a terminal illness is. I don't know how much of these activities Medicare is paying for. In terms of paying hospice workers to "help" organize the outings, that should be off limits, IMO.

And from the moment we are born, technically we are dying, and once you reach a certain age, of course it's likely you aren't going to recover from certain conditions, but I think there are (or should be) a standard for the likelihood of death before you are put into a hospice program.

I don't think fullfilling a bucket list for seniors should be in any way subsidized by Medicare.