Do You Really Need Hospice?

By Marsha Joiner, 02/20/2022

This information was provided by Michelle Young Doers - a Respiratory Therapist who authored the book Killing for Profit - The Dark Side of hospice. She has been on my talk show several times and has some very good advice on these pages. She shared some of this information on the program on February 9, 2022 if you want more information.

The first thing to consider is DO YOU REALLY NEED hospice? What do they really bring to the table that you need that only they can provide? My perspective is that unless your loved one is in the active stages of dying and has an illness that requires pain meds to MINIMIZE their pain, not put them into a coma, I don't see they are needed but that's me. Before considering enrolling into hospice, consider these questions to ask of a potential facility.

Take the questions with you and let them know you are writing down their responses because they bait and switch depending on who you talk to. Be aware and Knowledge is POWER.

California Inland Empire $4.2 Million Billing Scheme

Attorney General Bob Bonta

To view the article as published on 02/24/22, click here

Sixteen people, including two doctors, have been charged with felonies after the state Attorney General’s Office said it uncovered a scheme in which people who were not terminally ill were enrolled in expensive hospice care without their knowledge by two Inland Empire treatment facilities that fraudulently billed Medicare for millions of dollars.

New Hope Hospice and Sterling Hospice Care have been shut down, Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a news conference on Thursday, Feb. 24, outside San Bernardino County Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

The loss to Medicare and Medi-Cal from 2015 to 2021 was $4.2 million, Bonta said. Charges include conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, identity theft, grand theft, money laundering and tax evasion. Two suspects were still at large Thursday.

The defendants could face up to 27 years in prison if convicted as charged, Bonta said.