Patients who are enrolled in hospice care through Medicare are often felt to suffer unnecessarily because they do not receive adequate attention for their symptoms of the underlying illness. What factor most contributes to this phenomenon?

Question

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Because of Medicare rules concerning completion of all cure-focused medical treatment before the Medicare hospice benefit may be accessed, many patients delay enrollment in hospice programs until very close to the end of life. Hospice care does not include an unwillingness to medicate the patient to keep him or her from suffering. Patients must accept that they are terminal before being admitted to hospice care. Lack of knowledge is common; however, this is not why some Medicare patients do not receive adequate attention for the symptoms of their underlying illness.

Patients Who Are Enrolled in Hospice Care Through Medicare Are