Cost savings associated with expanded hospice use in Medicare.

Dear Editor: Despite mounting evidence that hospice provides highvalue, high-quality care, many eligible Medicare beneficiaries do not enroll, and lengths of hospice stay remain short. Policymakers have considered changes to Medicare policies to encourage hospice use, but there are persistent concerns about the impact of expanding services on the long-term financial solvency of the program. In this study we simulated impact of increased hospice use among Medicare beneficiaries with poor-prognosis cancer on overall Medicare spending.