Replies

This thread from shrinkermd is a hot button especially when one considers the years "they" kept Terri who was in surprisingly good health, in a hospice until they succeeded.

Lively discussion thread.

Thanks, LilAngel, for the ping. Wish I could have linked to it earlier.

Hundreds of hospice providers across the country are facing the catastrophic financial consequence of what would otherwise seem a positive development: their patients are living longer than expected.

Over the last eight years, the refusal of patients to die according to actuarial schedules has led the federal government to demand that hospices exceeding reimbursement limits repay hundreds of millions of dollars to Medicare.

The charges are assessed retrospectively, so in most cases the money has long since been spent on salaries, medicine and supplies. After absorbing huge assessments for several years, often by borrowing at high rates, a number of hospice providers are bracing for a new round that they fear may shut their doors.

In Hospice Care, Longer Lives Mean Money Lost (Patients Refuse To Die)

8mm

Rudy may not do well in Florida, they say. Sorry, Charlie. It is not my spelling gaffe on Clearwater, but sounds ok somehow.

...........................

-- LEARWATER, Fla. - Sliding in the polls, Rudy Giuliani is no longer so sure he can win the Republican nomination by taking Florida after losing earlier small states that traditionally determine the nominees.

~Snip~

During Wednesday's debate, Republicans saw the Rudy they've been doing their best to pretend did not exist. He wasn't the crime-fighting, terrorist-bashing, smiling hero they've come to like so much.

Instead, he was the gun-grabbing, abortion-supporting philanderer that Republicans don't waste much time with - especially here in Florida where conservatives turned the Terri Schiavo case into a national cause.

But if Giuliani gets his charming swagger back, his Florida strategy might still work, especially since just one week later a host of other big states - including New York, New Jersey and California, all where he fares well - will decide who the GOP nominee will be.

COASTING INTO FLA. MAY COST GIULIANI

8mm