TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Governor Rick Scott has declared November as Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Last year, more than 137,351 patients received hospice care throughout Florida. Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association is pleased to join hospice providers across the state in recognizing November as Florida Hospice Month. In 2016, FHPCA launched the “Let Hospice Help” initiative to encourage Floridians to learn about hospice services and plan ahead for end-of-life medical care
“FHPCA launched the Let Hospice Help initiative to help the public understand the valuable services available to them through their local hospice,” said Paul A. Ledford, President & CEO of Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association. “This November we want to raise awareness that hospices around Florida are here to help. It is very rewarding to see patients and families find the comfort and care they need.”
Click HERE to read Governor Rick Scott’s proclamation.
The LetHospiceHelp.org website provides basic facts on what to expect from hospice providers and helps consumers or family members understand the lesser-known benefits of hospice. The ‘Hospice Locator’ allows users to locate end-of-life care programs SEE FULL RELEASE…
Today, FHPCA’s House Bill 539- “An Act Relating to Hospices” passed the Florida House Health Innovation Subcommittee. This bill addresses quality measures, prescription drug disposal after a patient’s death, and palliative care services to non-hospice, seriously ill patients.
Here’s the moment the bill passed:
Learn more information about FHPCA’s 2017 Legislative Advocacy (HERE)
Medicare has announced significant changes in the hospice drug coverage rules, prompting cheers from many patient advocates within and beyond the hospice community. Many feared that the original changes would have had disastrous effects on quality of care by limiting the ability of terminally ill patients to gain access to medication that is crucial to both comfort and functionality at the end of life.
The newly announced modification to the Medicare Part D rules change applies to coverage for drugs unrelated to terminal illness; for example, a hospice patient with terminal cancer who also takes medication for his arthritis. “The new policy should eliminate 95% of the cases in which hospice patients need prior approval from an insurance company to get coverage for their drugs, according to participants in a Medicare briefing.”
The original new policy, which came into effect in May of this year, required patients to receive prior approval from their Medicare Part D insurer before they could fill a prescription for medications not specifically related to their terminal illness. “This became a tedious process, and many prescriptions went unfilled, because it took a long time to get prior approval and the families might not be able to afford the drugs without insurance coverage.”
The new changes to Medicare Part D only require prior approval for four specific classes of drugs: Analgesics, antinauseants, laxatives, and anti-anxiety drugs. In a policy statement issued by CMS, the federal agency noted that these drugs are “nearly always covered under the hospice benefit.” Because CMS estimates that there will be very few Part D claims for drugs in these categories, “barriers to beneficiary access should be minimized.”
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization welcomed the CMS announcement of changes saying that it as a measure that will “reduce confusion for hospice providers and… allow patients to get their medications when they need them.” J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO noted, “With this change, patients and their families will no longer be caught in the middle of troublesome policy and stakeholders can implement an interim solution that can more easily be understood by all providers.”
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On Friday, June 28, FHPCA submitted comments to CMS regarding the FY2014 proposed hospice wage index rule. The letter addressed four distinct sections of the proposed rule: Diagnosis reporting on hospice claims; use of nonspecific, symptom diagnoses; proposed updates to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program; and potential reforms to the hospice payment system.
You can read the letter HERE. NHPCO also submitted comments, and you can read their letter HERE.