This piece was first published in Reuters Health. LMM President Randi Belisomo is a contributor.

A new program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may remove a barrier that makes patients hesitate to opt for hospice care near the end of life.

Until now, to receive hospice care, patients had to agree to forego any further attempts at curative treatments. The new Medicare Care Choices Model will soon offer an option for Medicare beneficiaries to receive palliative care services from certain hospices while still receiving treatment from curative care providers.

Dr. Eytan Szmuilowicz, a palliative care physician at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, told Reuters Health that the new program may ease the burden families face in choosing treatment options.

“Now, we have a problem with patients having to make a choice,” Szmuilowicz said. “It may be based on hope that a treatment will continue to work, even if chances are low. This way, they are not forced to make this choice.”

“There is so much stigma around hospice, and it’s so negative in people’s minds, many can’t bring themselves to try it,” Szmuilowicz added. “If we open the door to help people realize the benefits hospice can bring, it may allow them more time to realize these therapies aren’t helping that much. Maybe that’s a good thing.”

In testing the Medicare Care Choices Model, CMS plans to evaluate whether providing hospice services earlier can improve quality of life among patients and reduce Medicare spending. CMS will limit participation to beneficiaries with advanced cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure and HIV/AIDS.

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