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Brought to you by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency
Federal Reports
Report Date
Agency Reviewed / Investigated
Report Title
Type
Location
Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Grants Awarded to the State of Utah, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources, From July 1, 2012, Through June 30, 2014
National Park Service Task Agreement Nos. P13AC00875 and P13AC00891 With the Audit of Task Agreements Between the National Park Service and University of Rhode Island
Medicare hospice care is intended to help terminally ill beneficiaries continue life with minimal disruptions and to support beneficiaries' families and other caregivers. Two key requirements of the Medicare hospice benefit are for the beneficiary to sign an election statement and for a physician to certify the beneficiary as terminally ill. Together, the election statement and certification of terminal illness provide critical safeguards to ensure that the beneficiary understands the hospice benefit and that the physician is involved in determining whether the beneficiary is appropriate for hospice care. However, previous OIG work has raised concerns that some election statements used by hospices are misleading and that physicians are sometimes not involved in care planning and may rarely see beneficiaries. Also, OIG has investigated numerous cases in which hospices submitted fraudulent claims for patients who were not appropriate for hospice care. This report assesses both hospice election statements and certifications of terminal illness.
