By Julie Grimstad
HALO has joined with other organizations and individuals in sending a formal letter to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), urging immediate action to stop Hospice Medicare Fraud. The letter was composed by Dr. Cristen Krebs, DNP, ANP-BC, a Nurse Practitioner with 35 years of experience as a non-profit Medicare Certified Hospice Director.
We are calling for Mr. Musk and DOGE to take a stand against CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) hospice fraud, thus improving care for vulnerable patients. form a task force to investigate and remedy the CMS Hospice Division’s irresponsibility and incompetence. hold hospices that commit fraud accountable to return full funds to the government while revoking their licenses to operate. The letter states, “Hospice fraud involves exploiting Medicare benefits through false claims, inappropriate billing, and enrolling patients who are not terminally ill into hospice care to improperly claim funds.” CMS—the agency responsible for oversight—estimates that inappropriate hospice billings costs Medicare hundreds of millions per year, yet enforcement is weak, and hospice providers who commit fraud continue to operate unchecked.
THIS IS A LIFE AND DEATH ISSUE.
Unscrupulous hospice providers (predominantly for-profit hospice businesses) put profit before the needs of patients. As a result, patients do not receive the compassionate end-of-life care they are promised and expect when they enroll in hospice.
HALO can attest to the immense suffering caused by hospice’s bad actors. The most frequent calls to HALO’s Helpline are from distraught families with loved ones in hospice care. A typical report contains some or all of the following complaints: a loved one’s usual life-preserving medications to control blood pressure, diabetes, etc. were withdrawn without consent; basic care, including nutrition and hydration, is not being provided; and increasingly frequent and larger doses of pain medications, anti-psychotic drugs, and/or sedatives are being administered to the point the patient is unable to communicate clearly or is sleeping all the time. Worse yet is when grieving family members call too late for us to help them protect their loved one from a cruel, premature death.
Hospice fraud strikes at the heart of medical ethics – “above all, do no harm.”
The complete text of the informative and urgent letter to Mr. Musk and DOGE (including Attachments A and B, which are must-reads) is available to read at DOGE-SHARE-FINAL-FINAL.pdf.
For more information about how to care for a loved one, visit halovoice.org.
