Profit vs Expected Hospice Care
Hospice is supposed to provide skilled and compassionate care for those suffering a terminal illness. It often falls far short of that goal, and now it’s getting worse.
That’s because the field is increasingly being swallowed up by businesses more interested in profits than providing the kind of care we expect.
Profit-driven private equity firms are “gobbling up hospice chains and getting in the business of dying,” explained a recent online article in HuffPost.
Private equity firms are companies that make investments in privately-owned businesses. They raise pools of capital from limited partners to form a fund to make such purchases.
Since its inception as a small volunteer movement in the 60s, the hospice industry has transformed into a $20 billion industry with a noticeable increase in for-profit ownership. In 2017, more than two-thirds of hospice providers were for-profit, compared to less than a third in 2000.
“From 2012 to 2019, the number of hospices owned by private equity companies tripled. The pace of acquisitions seems to have only gotten faster during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the article said.
By 2019, there were more than 300 private, equity owned hospices in the U.S. providing care to more than 112,000 Medicare recipients, according to Tyler Braun, a health policy researcher at Weill Cornel Medical College.
That’s a modest share of the 1.46 million Medicare hospice patients in 2019, but it represents a 328% increase from 2012.
The results of these developments have not been good.
Degraded Services
“For-profit hospices offer fewer services, hire staff with less training, and enroll more patients who have less complicated needs and spend a longer time in hospice,” the HuffPost charged. The result: fewer costs and more income.
A similar observation was made by three U.S Senators in a letter to the president of a hospice in Louisville, KY.
“Evidence suggests that care quality is lower in for-profit companies, making these ownership trends in the hospice industry a cause for concern,” the letter stated.
The senators said “We are concerned that when applied to hospice care, the private equity model of generating profit on a rapid turnaround can occur at the expense of dying patients and their families.”
Plus, “In recent years, the hospice industry has been at the center of multiple Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigations detailing non-compliance with Medicare hospice regulations, serious harm caused to beneficiaries due to program deficiencies and even instances of patient abuse,” they added.
Becoming a Numbers Game
One of the most active players is Traditions Health. The firm currently operates hospices in 18 states, including Georgia, where it has at least a dozen such facilities. Its drive to enroll more patients raises serious questions.
Former employees at hospices acquired by Traditions Health described undue pressure to maximize profits by cost cutting, reducing staff, and an aggressive pursuit for more patients.
A former staffer at a hospice in Round Rock, Texas acquired by Traditions Health said it turned into a numbers game. She said the marketing team referred some patients to her with few or no medical records, leaving her with no idea of what equipment or medications to order.
The influx of patients with scant medical records even forced nurses to sometimes ask family members “what’s he dying of?”
Tradition Health’s practices at another facility raised similar concerns. “Their practices are definitely questionable,” a former employee said. “When it came to our hospice, prior to them acquiring it, it was a wonderful team and a great place to work. It all definitely changed as soon as they took over.”
The company was purchased by Dorilton Capital, whose owner is thought to be a mysterious, Harvard-educated billionaire businessman from Hong Kong.
This information should be a flashing red light warning to anyone facing hospice for a loved one. Everyone needs to be aware of these issues and thoroughly investigate and ask tough questions of any provider being considered.
HALO, Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization, is a good resource when making healthcare decisions. They provide a document with questions to ask before you or a loved one is admitted to a hospice.
Providers need to be reminded that we don’t lose our Personhood because we have a terminal illness. The dying are just as precious to God as everyone else.
Sources: huffpost.com; warren.senate.gov; traditionshealth.com.
By Wayne DuBois
Georgia Right to Life
Media Relations Advisor