On this edition of Your Call, we discuss the rise of for-profit hospice agencies in the US and how that's affecting care.
Between 2015 and 2022, 47 private equity firms bought 124 hospice providers. Though hospice began as a nonprofit, community-based service in the 1970s to provide specialized end-of-life care, over 70 percent of hospice providers are now for-profit, according to the CDC.
What’s behind this alarming trend? And how is it affecting patient care and the right to transition with dignity?
Guests:
Dr. Ira Byock, palliative care physician, public advocate, founder of the Institute for Human Caring, emeritus professor of medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, author of Dying Well, The Four Things That Matter Most, and The Best Care Possible
Jennifer Moore Ballentine, CEO of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California
Resources:
New York Times: Hospice Is a Profitable Business, but Nonprofits Mostly Do a Better Job
Los Angeles Times: A visit with my late mother’s nurse, and a lesson on what you should know about hospice care
STAT News: The hospice industry needs major reforms. It should start with apologies
JAMA: Association of Hospice Profit Status With Family Caregivers’ Reported Care Experiences
