While awareness has grown, a sound understanding of palliative care — specialized medical care for people living with serious illnesses — still lacks among the general public and among physicians and other healthcare professionals. The misconceptions present a barrier to its wider use, according to Brynn Bowman, CEO, and Allison Silvers, chief healthcare transformation officer, of the Center to Advance Palliative Care, who spoke to McKnight’s Home Care in a Newsmakers podcast. Among the many myths is that palliative care is not paid for; it is a service under Medicare Part B, they clarified.
There remains confusion about palliative care, which differs from hospice care in that recipients do not have to give up curative care. It focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stresses of the illness for the patient and the family, and it is appropriate at any age and any stage of illness. Also, an interprofessional team delivers it. While Medicare Part B pays for it, the fee-for-service payment remains inadequate, many argue, because it fails to adequately cover the comprehensive team approach. There actually is a strong value proposition under value-based payment, Bowman noted, and many Medicare Advantage plans are contracting with palliative care providers based on this value proposition. There are other bright spots surrounding palliative care, Bowman and Silvers said. One of these is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ request for comment in the hospice proposed rule for fiscal year 2025 about higher-cost palliative care treatments. This opens the door to a new payment system that covers the services of an interdisciplinary specialty care team, Silvers noted. Another positive development is Hawaii recently became the first state to cover palliative care through Medicaid.
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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; and Brynn Bowman, CEO, and Allison Silvers, Chief Health Care Transformation Officer, of the Center to Advance Palliative Care