The OIG has issued a report on "Medicare Hospices That Focus on Nursing Facility Residents." According to the OIG, Medicare spending on hospice care for nursing facility residents increased by 69% from 2005 to 2009, from $2.55 billion to $4.31 billion, while the number of hospice beneficiaries in nursing facilities increased by 40%. For-profit hospices were paid, on average, 29% more per beneficiary than nonprofit hospices and 53% more than government-owned hospices in 2009. In 2009, almost 8% of hospices had two-thirds or more of their Medicare beneficiaries residing in nursing facilities; 72% percent of such “high percentage” hospices were for-profit (compared to 56% of all hospices). High-percentage hospices served beneficiaries who spent more days in hospice care, which led to higher Medicare payment; Medicare paid an average of $3,182 more per beneficiary for beneficiaries served by high-percentage hospices than hospices overall in 2009. The OIG also found that high-percentage hospices typically enrolled beneficiaries requiring less complex care and who already lived in nursing facilities. The OIG recommends that CMS: (1) monitor hospices that depend heavily on nursing facility residents, and (2) reduce Medicare payments for hospice care provided in nursing facilities, seeking statutory authority if necessary. CMS concurred with the recommendations. In a related development, the OIG has posted a "spotlight" page on its website highlighting fraud and abuse involving Medicare hospice services. Hospices that focus on nursing facility residents also was the subject of the OIG’s first podcast.