Hospice Care Statistics

According to the Hospice Association of America and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization:

• There are more than 2,800 hospices participating in the Medicare program in the US, with an additional 200 volunteer hospices. From 1984 to 2006, the number of Medicare participating hospice facilities increased from 31 to over 2,800.
• Reports show that more than 797,000 patients received hospice care through Medicare.
• Medicare certifies more than 90 percent of hospices in the United States. Eighty percent of hospice patients are age 65 or older. There has been an increase in patients age 75 and older receiving hospice care and of those patients, almost 57 percent are females.
• Less than one-half of hospice recipients are now cancer patients. The five leading non-cancer conditions of persons who are admitted to hospice are end-stage heart disease, dementia, debility, lung disease, and end-stage renal disease.

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