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The organization I work for. Hospice of
the Rapidan. ha^ been the Wading provider of rampassiuoato and dignifWd end-of-life care four terminally ill patients and their families in Culpeper. Fauquier. Madison. Orange and Rappahannock Counties Rmt almost 25 years. It has always been our policy to provide the best possible care and to never turn away any patient because he or she cannot afford our care. We have been able to live up to both these commitments because historically the amount we have been paid by Medicare, which covers'over 85 percent of all hospice patients, has been reasonable.
In recent years Congress has reduced the amount hospices are reimbursed for the care we provide. For example, m Culpeper County w here we are based the amount we receive today is more than 13 percent lower than it was in 2005. Now President Rush has proposed a budget that cuts hospice rates even more, seriously threatening: the ability of dying patients to get the care they need when it counts the .nos*
This policy is seriously Hawed. Hospice is already the most cost-effective end-of-life care- delivery system for our nation's most vulnerable population. The' fact is that hospice save's Medicare' over
30.6%