- bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-22/preparing-americans-for-death-lets-for-profit-hospices-neglect-end-of-life.html
- bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-06/hospice-care-revealed-as-14-billion-u-s-market.html
- bloomberg.com/video/83525328/
- bloomberg.com/video/83525378/
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
7/22/2011: Preparing Americans for Death Lets Hospices Neglect End of Life 12/6/2011: Aunt Midge Not Dying in Hospice Reveals $14 Billion U.S. Market 12/30/2011: Hospice Turns Months-to-Live Patients Into Years of Abusing Drugs 11/16/2011: Whistleblower Accuses Chemed Unit of Medicare HMO Conspiracy
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The stories describe how hospice care in America, once a charitable cause, has grown to be dominated by businesses that maximize profits by enrolling long-stay patients who aren’t dying, scrimping on care and often neglecting patients at the most vulnerable period of their lives. The stories uncovered allegations of neglect and fraudulent behavior against the nation’s biggest hospice providers, who receive 90% of their revenues from Medicare.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Waldman used public records requests to obtain corporate registry, survey and regulatory documents from five states and plumbed more than 1,000 pages of court records in state and federal courthouses in 16 states, finding documents that had not been reported on before. He also accessed hospice cost and profit-margin data through state and federal databases. The data revealed how patients’ average length of stay soared over the past decade, as profit margins rose, informing the central thesis of the series: that for-profit hospices were targeting the most profitable patients who weren’t dying.
Explain types of human sources used.
Waldman interviewed more than 60 doctors, hospice employees, patients and family members to build a portrait of a noble calling gone awry. He got doctors, chaplains, nurses and marketers to reveal the job pressures — and legally questionable bonus pay — motivating hospice employees to target the old and the weak for profit.
Results:
Waldman’s work has been closely followed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is rewriting the regulations and reimbursement scheme for hospice care. Roberta Baskin of the Office of Inspector General within HHS called it “great investigative reporting.” The stories raised expectations of a government crackdown — shares in Chemed Corp., which owns America’s largest hospice chain, fell after each of the stories this year, and dropped a total of 27% by mid-December since Waldman’s first article appeared in July.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections or clarifications.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Get your public records requests in ASAP to federal and state FOIA officers because often the gems don’t come for months. Never hesitate to call or email people blind, through LinkedIn or social media, which have become a gold mine for sources.