Lower Than Whale Shit
Nov 27th, 2007 at 7:38 am by Susie
You’d think they’d draw the line at old, sick people - but you’d be wrong. [Via Avedon.]
And oh look, yet another story showing how very compassionate our medical system is (and before I get the usual comments saying this is why we shouldn’t have a national health system, this is exactly why we should):
CAMDEN, Ala. — Hundreds of hospice providers across the country are facing the catastrophic financial consequence of what would otherwise seem a positive development: their patients are living longer than expected.
Over the last eight years, the refusal of patients to die according to actuarial schedules has led the federal government to demand that hospices exceeding reimbursement limits repay hundreds of millions of dollars to Medicare.
The charges are assessed retrospectively, so in most cases the money has long since been spent on salaries, medicine and supplies. After absorbing huge assessments for several years, often by borrowing at high rates, a number of hospice providers are bracing for a new round that they fear may shut their doors.
