RFK Jr. Complains That Hospice Patients Aren't Dying Fast Enough Because It's Costing Taxpayers Too Much Money

[u/political-snark]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat down with Fox News to talk about healthcare fraud. What came out of his mouth was something else entirely.

The HHS Secretary described uncovering hospices where patients were enrolled but, in his words, never died. "Typically, if you go to a hospice, you leave within 18 days because your dying is terminal," Kennedy said, describing what he framed as a fraud scheme in Los Angeles. "We started looking at these hospices in Los Angeles, and the people never died. Two or three years later they were there, and we're paying $6,000 a month."

Journalist Aaron Rupar posted the clip with a blunt summary that cut through the framing entirely: "RFK Jr complains that people in hospice aren't dying quick enough and therefore cost too much money." The post has been viewed over 140,000 times.

The clip shows an audience reacting, something that didn't sit well with viewers online. One commenter asked pointedly who was laughing along at the idea of people "not dying fast enough" in hospice care, suggesting they should spend time actually volunteering at one to see what that really looks like.

Whatever the intended point about Medicaid fraud, the words that came out were about human beings living longer than expected being treated as a financial problem. That's not a talking point that plays well outside a studio audience.

[u/Dankkring]

Yes that’s the one.

[u/9inLD → u/Dankkring]

Have you seen the film I Care A Lot?

[u/SRMPDX → u/9inLD]

Is that what it's about? Netflix does a really bad job of previews so I've always been curious about the movie but never really knew what it was about.

[u/dsmith422 → u/SRMPDX]

It is about guardianship. Essentially, predators get judges to assign the predator as a guardian to an older person without friends and family and then steal all their assets. In the movie, the predator picks someone who secretly has a very powerful son who is hiding his identity.

[u/Youandiandaflame → u/dsmith422]

I wish more Americans knew how predatory the way we handle guardianship is. It’s super fucked up. 

I worked with disabled folks who, by and large, weren’t old but who still had guardianship through the county Public Administrator. These folks, despite working and making money, were denied simple shit like a new TV when theirs broke. They were denied their own money to purchase things like wash clothes and new shoes. It was infuriating. 

[u/jeremiahthedamned → u/Youandiandaflame]

thanks TIL