LIHU‘E — Lori Miller, executive director of Kaua‘i Hospice, and hundreds of hospice advocates from across the nation last week urged Congress to protect access to compassionate and high quality end-of-life care for all Americans. Miller joined her fellow advocates
LIHU‘E — Lori Miller, executive director of Kaua‘i Hospice, and hundreds of hospice advocates from across the nation last week urged Congress to protect access to compassionate and high quality end-of-life care for all Americans. Miller joined her fellow advocates in Washington, D.C. as part of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Capitol Hill Day 2010, a news release states.
Miller met with Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, D-2nd District, to discuss the value of hospice care to patients and their families in Hawaii.
“The hospice community is slated to undergo large budget cuts as a result of Medicare payment reform and the new health care reform legislation,” said Miller. “Hill Day was a great opportunity to engage our members of Congress and discuss the value that hospice providers bring to Hawai‘i patients and families facing the end of life.”
Over the past two years, the hospice community has been facing rate cuts on two fronts — regulatory cuts enacted in October 2009 that eliminated a key component of the Medicare hospice reimbursement known as the Budget Neutrality Adjustment Factor and, more recently, cuts slated to be enacted in 2013 as a result of the health care reform bill passed in March. Throughout 2010, advocates are working together to educate policy makers on how the hospice community will be impacted by the combined 14.3 percent reductions, the release states.
“In the aftermath of health care reform, NHPCO’s Capitol Hill Day 2010 was just the beginning of our efforts to educate Congress on the hospice community’s value and uniqueness as compared with other health care providers. Over 1.4 million patients and families depend on compassionate end-of-life care from hospice programs throughout the country,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “It’s important that Congress know the importance of hospice to their constituents so they can take an active role in preserving compassionate end-of-life care for generations to come.”
The mission of Kaua‘i Hospice is to ensure the highest quality of life possible for individuals and their families facing a life-threatening illness; to provide bereavement support to individuals, and to promote an understanding of Hospice services.
For more information about Kaua‘i Hospice, call 245-7277 or visit www.kauaihospice.org
