Medicare Hospice Benefit Analysis

As of 2014 there were 53.8 million Medicare recipients, of those 53.5 million were recipients of Medicare Part A (NCPSSM, 2016). Those 53.5 million individuals qualify for receiving the Medicare Hospice Benefit (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2016). With an older adult (65 and up) population continuously aging and growing, the need for end of life care continues to grow as well (US Department of Health and Human Services , 2015). According to Department of Health and Human Services, in the next forty- four years in 2060 there will be 98 million older adults, that’s double the amount of individuals in 2013 Currently 7 out of 10 individuals experience death resulting from a chronic illness (Hogan, n.d.). In the next few years there …show more content…
These creations of the Hospice Medicare Benefit, is designed to provide those who qualify with quality care at little to no cost. A nation with a high chronic illness and aging population will need to be able to provide quality end of life care for those individuals. When the care is provided at a little to no cost, more people are likely to choose this healthcare option. The Medicare Hospice Benefit makes this possible. The reason for the creation of the Medicare Hospice Benefit goes back to the beginnings of hospice in America. The concept of Hospice care is a very young idea. The first American Hospice was established 42 years ago, after a need of end of life care was identified (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization , 2016).The American Hospice movement began in the 1960’s after being introduced to by Doctor Saunders (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization , 2016).The concept of hospice was introduced by Dr. Saunders, who established the first hospice in England. In 1948 Dr. Saunders worked with people who were terminally ill. From her experiences she developed St.Christopher’s in hospice in London, England. This was the first hospice that modeled on the blueprint we use currently (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization , …show more content…
That same year the first funding legislation is introduced by two senators (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization , 2016). Frank Moss was a Democratic Senator from Utah and Frank Church, a Democratic Senator from Idaho proposed a bill that would allocate federal funds for hospice programs (Frank Moss Biography, 2004; Frank Church Biography,2004). Both senators proposed a bill that would allocate federal funds for hospice programs, unfortunately the first federal funding attempt was not successful (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization , 2016). In 1978 the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare revealed they were in support of