Hospice is good when needed but not in Mom's case...

Mom continues to be the same - good vitals, eats well, happy to sit, watch and snooze.  Holds her baby all the time and, as I found again today, is very surprised at the weight of a real baby when she has the opportunity to hold one.  :)

Enjoying her great granddaughter again - and boy is she heavy!

I continue on my endeavor to minimize her expenses without compromising her care and happiness.

I finished the audit of her ALF expenses and found only a small error over the course of the three years.  It was recent and just an oversight.  Hospice took over bathing Mom and the ALF forgot to remove that from the service plan.  They were very responsive to my concerns and they are crediting the charges.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the oxygen machine returned.  Mom had never used it and my research revealed that there is now a monthly oxygen charge whether it is used or not.  It used to be that charges were for actual use.  Big change!

Looking further into the charges and services provided by hospice, I was shocked to find claims submitted to Mom's insurance company in amounts between $3,400 and $3,800 a month!  Oh my goodness!  They check her vitals weekly and bathe her twice a week.  She takes no meds and requires nothing medically.  What in the world are we paying for??

I'm still trying to find that answer but while I'm waiting for an itemized bill, I've asked the ALF to see if there are any services that hospice provides that they can't.

It would be different if Mom had medical issues other than the possibility of a hemorrhage that gives her no pain.  Hospice is not with her 24/7 like the ALF staff is so the likelihood of them being on site if Mom hemorrhages is slim to none.  It is far more likely that anything that happens will be handled by the ALF staff and Mom is used to them.

While hospice is a good thing in many cases, Mom just isn't one of those cases.  I anticipate eliminating their services in the next couple of weeks.