U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar acknowledged in a recent letter the need for a payment demonstration for the serious illness population. Azar was responding to recent recommendations from the Physician-focused Payment Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) regarding several payment model proposals submitted by stakeholder groups, including C-TAC. Azar indicated that C-TAC’s…

This week, Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver aired a segment on guardianship for senior citizens. Oliver covered the growing population of people over age 65, their need for extra help managing their affairs, and what can happen if their wishes aren’t discussed or recorded. He highlighted several examples of court–appointed guardians with little to…

Founded in 2007, Cambia Health Foundation is the corporate health foundation of Cambia Health Solutions. Since its inception, the foundation has invested over $30 million to advance palliative care awareness, access, and quality. Perhaps most notable has been the foundation’s work on the development of national leaders to advance and expand the field. Armed with…

More than 90 million Americans are currently living with serious illness, a number expected to double in the next 25 years. The need for palliative care – and thus palliative care training – is only going to grow. The CSU Institute for Palliative Care offers medical professionals around the world training to overcome the most…

Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle, authors of Driving Miss Norma: An Inspirational Story About What Really Matters at the End of Life, will serve as our inaugural Caregiver Fellows. Family caregivers are a crucial component of supporting people living with advanced illness but, as research released by C-TAC last year shows, they remain under resourced,…

In March 2014, Fidelity Health Care implemented a pilot program based on its original Care Transition pilot. An interdisciplinary team of nurses, social workers and therapists were trained to provide specialized care transition services to a high risk, high cost population. The goal was a 35% reduction in clinical encounters after six months of interventions. Ninety days after…

A panel of experts convened by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) formally recommended to the HHS Secretary Alex Azar two payment proposals, one submitted by C-TAC and the other by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). “We applaud this historic recommendation and its potential impact to provide high-quality…

Leading advocates in advanced illness care convened on Capitol Hill on May 9 to discuss recent progress in advanced illness care and how to address the challenges that lie ahead. C-TAC was proud to co-sponsor this event, alongside Capital Caring, the American Heart Association, the National Coalition on Health Care and the National Partnership for…

Americans are living longer than ever before but longer life also brings a greater prevalence of chronic illness. While the U.S. health care system handles acute medical issues quite well, it is poorly equipped to provide appropriate care for people with advanced illness. Such patients typically receive care that is uncoordinated and treatments they do…

Brad Smith is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aspire Health, the nation’s largest provider of community-based palliative care services for patients facing a serious illness. Aspire currently operates in 25 states and 67 cities in partnership with many of the nation’s largest health plans. Since launching in 2013, Aspire has served over 40,000…