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Community Healthcare of Texas Leaders Address Hospice Fraud Concerns with Congresswoman Van Duyne

Leaders from Community Healthcare of Texas, the state’s largest not-for-profit hospice and palliative care provider, met with Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) on Tuesday to discuss fraud and abuse within the Medicare hospice benefit.

The congresswoman has joined Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) in leading a bipartisan effort to get answers from the U.S Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on reported instances of hospice fraud in several states, including Texas.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to meet with Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne and share our ongoing concerns about the lack of hospice oversight at the federal and state level,” said Viki Jingle, CEO at Community Healthcare of Texas. “We are witnessing an alarmingly rapid growth of for-profit hospice agencies across Texas. And with limited oversight, the hospice Medicare benefit originally designed to care for patients at their most vulnerable is actually putting patients at risk.”

According to the latest CMS data, the number of for-profit hospice agencies in Texas grew by more than 100% from 2013 to 2022, while not-for-profit hospice agencies grew by only 1%.

Jingle explained that Community Healthcare of Texas leaders are also working closely with hospice partners at the state and national levels to ensure holistic patient-centered care remains the priority for every agency. “We are long-time members of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) and the Texas Non-Profit Hospice Alliance (TNPHA). Both organizations are committed to addressing the rapid growth of Medicare-certified agencies and making recommendations to weed out the bad actors,” said Jingle.

“Congresswoman Van Duyne is bringing much-needed attention to this issue,” said Jingle. “I look forward to continuing this conversation with her as we all work together to provide patients with the highest quality care at the end of life.”

About Community Healthcare of Texas

 As the largest not-for-profit hospice and palliative care provider in Texas, Community Healthcare of Texas has cared for adult and pediatric patients throughout North Central Texas since 1996. Community Healthcare of Texas offers hospice care, palliative care, education, emotional and spiritual support, and grief care to families as they travel the path of serious and terminal illnesses. Community Healthcare of Texas serves patients and their families across 25 Dallas, Fort Worth, and Waco counties. Please visit www.chot.org or contact Deidrea Laux at dlaux@chot.org to learn more.

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