Building Additional Serious Illness Measures Into Medicare Programs

The Need For Better Measures The US health care system is not delivering the care that patients with serious illness need and want. For example, although most people say they would like to die at home, nearly 70 percent die in nursing homes, intensive care units, or other medical settings. Given that approximately 70 percent of people who die in the United States each year are Medicare beneficiaries, the new administration has an opportunity to implement changes to significantly improve the quality of end-of-life care. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) highlighted this opportunity during the confirmation hearing of then-Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Senator Warner cited the Care Planning Act of 2015, a bill he introduced to provide, among other things, coordinated care services for Medicare beneficiaries in the latter stages of a serious illness. While the bill was not passed in that Congress, Senator Warner underscored the bipartisan support, noting the bill’s co-sponsor Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), for improving care for seriously ill patients. Senator Warner received Representative Price’s assurance that he would work with Senators Warner, Isakson, and others on these important issues. The exchange between Senator Warner and now-Secretary Price reflects the broad consensus that care for patients with life-threatening illnesses needs to improve. According to the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM’s) 2014 report “Dying in...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: End of Life & Serious Illness Medicare Quality National Quality Forum Vital Signs Source Type: blogs