Washington To Cut Hospice Funding?

Gov. Christine Gregoire plans to eliminate all Medicaid funding for adult Hospice care in Washington state as of Jan. 1. This cut is supposed to save the state budget $4.6 million.

The savings from the elimination of hospice end-of-life care for the most needy of our neighbors totally ignores the increased costs which Medicaid will endure from those individuals who will wind up in hospital emergency rooms and will be charging Medicaid for all of their medications which Hospice would have paid for.

The sentiments here, from a Port Orchard Independent article by Jim Pledger, are being shared by many as Washington moves to eliminate Medicaid funding for hospice care. With study after study proving that hospice care saves thousands of dollars per patient, while simultaneously improving quality of life, why would you wish to eliminate a major source of funding and, as a result, ultimately cost the state more money than was saved?