Home Health Care and Hospice Programs: Regulating, Defending, and Structuring Options

When disputes arise at or near the end of life, families and friends sometimes push back at the problems they see in the institutions that care for their loved one. Lawsuits, regulatory complaints, and other forms of conflict can get ugly before, and sometimes after, the patient passes away. There are often conflicts about insurance coverage for more benefits that government or private insurers refuse to pay, and the acrimony of the financial disputes may spill over into care decisions. In Home Health Care and Hospice Programs, a veteran health law scholar clearly explains how the systems of care at home or in final residential care settings can best be handled for the benefit of the patient, whose family and friends need clear answers. This is the fifth text relating to elder care by Prof. James T. O'Reilly, called the expert on medical device law by the US Supreme Court and widely cited by state and federal courts. This subject matter will become more important as baby boomers' demographic flood will strain the systems for elder care, while political constraints on new benefits collide with an acute shortage of caregivers. This nexus of problems is the core focus of this insightful text. About the Author: Prof. James T. O'Reilly teaches public health in the College of Medicine and numerous courses in the College of Law at the University of Cincinnati. His textbooks on medical device law, hospitals, and medical malpractice have been widely used and cited. He chairs the American Bar Association's Food & Drug Law Committee and has published more than two hundred articles and more than forty-five texts. Read more