Hospice industry gets ready for baby boomers By Holly Ramer, Associated PressPosted 7/5/2012 04:14:26 AM
CONCORD, N.H. — CONCORD, N.H. Forget that image of a hospice worker sitting next to a hospital bed in a dimly lit room. Today, hospice care is delivered everywhere from the golf course to the casino.
As they brace for the eventual needs of the aging Baby Boom generation, hospice providers are working to diversify their services and dispel misconceptions about what they do. Chief among those myths is the notion that hospice consists of friendly visitors who sit in a darkened room and hold Grandma's hand while she dies, says Robin Stawasz, family-services director at Southern Tier Hospice and Palliative Care in upstate New York.
"It's just not what we do. We come in and help people go golfing or go snowbird down to Florida, or go out to dinner several nights a week. We help them get to the casinos on weekends," she said. "This is not getting ready to die. This is living -- living now, living tomorrow, making the best possible life with what you have."
According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, an estimated 1.58million patients received hospice care from more than 5,000 programs nationwide in 2010, more than double the number of patients served a decade earlier. More than 40percent of all deaths in the U.S. that year were under the care of hospice, which provides medical care, pain management and emotional and spiritual support to patients with terminal illnesses......................>>>>.............................>>>>....................http://www.usatoday.com/USCP/P.....LdWritethru_ST_U.htm
because you can't just die....we hire 'wailers' for the family
Senders... you have no idea. I hope you never NEED hospice services... If you do, you may see just how wrong you are.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Where is the mandate that Boomers purchase life insurance to pay for the hospice care so their kids aren't stuck with the bill?
??? Really Cic???
If your dad or mom needed care, you'd complain that they are spending their own money to buy Hospice??? You aren't liable for your parents medical bills unless you have accepted that responsibility.
Is it your inheritance that you are worried about???
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
If your dad or mom needed care, you'd complain that they are spending their own money to buy Hospice??? You aren't liable for your parents medical bills unless you have accepted that responsibility.
Is it your inheritance that you are worried about???
No, not at all. I'm concerned about the Boomers that can't pay for Hospice Care that can't afford it because they have no savings. Who is going to pay for that? We don't want any "freeloaders" sponging off the system and passing that cost on to the taxpayers. We need universal hospice care to prevent the "freeloader".
No, not at all. I'm concerned about the Boomers that can't pay for Hospice Care that can't afford it because they have no savings. Who is going to pay for that? We don't want any "freeloaders" sponging off the system and passing that cost on to the taxpayers. We need universal hospice care to prevent the "freeloader".
??You Understand, Right???
Of course I understand... Meidcare pays for most Hospice services. Many health care plans also will pay for Hospice. If there is no insurance... then it's similar to other medical procedures... If you can't pay... you don't get the service.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
I knew of a woman dying of lung cancer, who refused Hospice. Hospice was new to the area then and like you, she had a mistake idea of their roll. In the last stages of her death, she was like an animal... clawing at the bed and screaming. She was on the maximum dosage of pain killers and the meds didn't last long enough to kill the pain. As the drugs wore off, the pain would increase, and back then, there was nothing that the staff could do. It was illegal to give a larger dose.
Today, that woman might have spent that time in no or little pain, visiting with her family as she passed away... instead all she could do is scream at them.
She and her entire family went through a terrible ordeal, that was totally unnecessary. She was going to die... that wouldn't change, but how she died and what she could do in her dying weeks could have been much different with Hospice.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Senders... you have no idea. I hope you never NEED hospice services... If you do, you may see just how wrong you are.
oh....that's where you are mistaken....
I KNOW UP CLOSE AND VERY PERSONAL ABOUT HOSPICE.....
I'm in it EVERY DAY I GO TO WORK....and I'm not in the hospice organization......
every day I go to work someone is dying....day in and day out........WITH OR WITHOUT hospice....
I've been at the bedside of probably 30-40 folks holding their hand when they stop breathing or when they say their last word...or when they talk about their life....or when they want their mouth wet...or when they want to roll over or when they want pain medication....
believe you me....I KNOW...I smell death every day
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
I knew of a woman dying of lung cancer, who refused Hospice. Hospice was new to the area then and like you, she had a mistake idea of their roll. In the last stages of her death, she was like an animal... clawing at the bed and screaming. She was on the maximum dosage of pain killers and the meds didn't last long enough to kill the pain. As the drugs wore off, the pain would increase, and back then, there was nothing that the staff could do. It was illegal to give a larger dose.
Today, that woman might have spent that time in no or little pain, visiting with her family as she passed away... instead all she could do is scream at them.
She and her entire family went through a terrible ordeal, that was totally unnecessary. She was going to die... that wouldn't change, but how she died and what she could do in her dying weeks could have been much different with Hospice.
all the government does is make sure that the MD is doing under a 'dying title'....it gets labeled....but ALL MD's if they know you well enough can assist in comfort....
the problem with America is that most folks don't have that 'local MD' relationship....why? because in America there must be some F'EN expert to fix me....most things have no answers and MD's are NOT GODS..
comfort is the best an MD can provide...get one...get to know them and let them get to know you....they will be there for you....
everyone thinks the next gumball is better....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
If there is no insurance... then it's similar to other medical procedures... If you can't pay... you don't get the service.
That is BARBARIC! If somebody can't pay for a service they DESERVE, then we must the collective whole to pay for it. Especially an end of life service. I say mandate anybody over 55 years of age purchase Hospice insurance to pay for end of life care. End of life service should NEVER be denied, just like medical services cannot be denied if a person can't pay.
What do you want box, a terminal patient in pain, crapping and wetting themselves all alone in their apartment because they can't afford Hospice care? HOSPICE INSURANCE!
That is BARBARIC! If somebody can't pay for a service they DESERVE, then we must the collective whole to pay for it. Especially an end of life service. I say mandate anybody over 55 years of age purchase Hospice insurance to pay for end of life care. End of life service should NEVER be denied, just like medical services cannot be denied if a person can't pay.
What do you want box, a terminal patient in pain, crapping and wetting themselves all alone in their apartment because they can't afford Hospice care? HOSPICE INSURANCE!
better idea is to have anyone 55 and over to pay a 'fee' for future abortions as directed by National 'healthcare'
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS