Senators Urge Protection of Medicare Hospice Benefits

WASHINGTON—Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to Senate leadership expressing bipartisan support for policies that preserve the Medicare hospice benefit under Medicare, including for Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries.

As Congress considers potential reforms to the MA program, the letter urges Senate leadership to maintain this safeguard and oppose any proposals that would include hospice in the Medicare Advantage program, including repeal or alteration of the Special Rule for Hospice (the Special Rule), also known as hospice carve-in.  

“MA enrollees who elect hospice currently retain the freedom to choose any Medicare-certified hospice provider, free from network limitations or prior authorization requirements,” the letter said. “More than half of hospice beneficiaries pass away within 14 days of election, making delays in care both harmful and unacceptable. Integrating the hospice benefit into MA plan design would jeopardize this access by layering additional managed care terms (or policies) on top of an already managed and coordinated benefit.”

The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) released an official statement in response to the letter, expressing gratitude for the senators’ advocacy for the at-home community.

“The Alliance strongly opposes efforts to integrate hospice into Medicare Advantage,” the Alliance said. “… Bringing hospice under Medicare Advantage would undermine patient choice, adversely impact timely access to care and fragment the hospice experience for patients and families at a highly vulnerable time.”

“The Alliance thanks Sen. Marshall and Sen. Whitehouse for listening to the concerns of the care at home community and taking action to protect our nation’s most vulnerable patient population by defending the hospice benefit under original Medicare,” said Scott Levy, chief government affairs officer at the Alliance. “The Alliance will continue to lead on this important public policy priority for hospice providers nationwide by advocating to preserve this sacred promise established by Congress and kept on behalf of the American people for over four decades.”

To view the full letter click here.