For terminally ill patients and their loved ones, finding the right Hospice care can be a daunting decision. Options for quality and strength of the facility providing end-of-life care in the Texas depends on the hospice chosen, according to data released from Medicare data released by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (CMMS). Now available to the public, the “Hospice Compare” website — at medicare.gov/hospicecompare — displays information on almost 3,900 hospices nationwide.
The online portal gives patients, family members, and health care providers a comparison snapshot of the quality of care each hospice service offers, a service that was enacted by The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which mandates hospices report quality of care data or lose 2 percent of their federal Medicare payments. The site Hospice Compare site contains data on 777 hospice agencies in Texas. To use the website which only serves as a tool for researching the best option for you, patients and family members can search for hospice facilities nearby using their ZIP code or city name, Or they can type in the name of a particular hospice provider they have determined to be a good candidate.
Reports indicated that to To qualify for Medicare’s hospice benefit, the patient must be eligible for Medicare’s Part A hospital insurance, and your physician and your hospice medical director must certify that the terminally ill individual has six months or less to live. The benefit is available to people with traditional Medicare or private Medicare Advantage plans.