Curative+Palliative=New Hospice?

Prior to health reform, Medicare (federal program for 65+ and disabled) only covered palliative (non-curative) care for individuals on Hospice care.  Hospice is both a type of care and a philosophy for terminally ill patients, focused on management and alleviation of pain symptoms and spending the end of one's life with friends and family in a manner of dignity and peace.  The focus is on quality of life, rather than lengthening duration of life, or providing cures, and occurs on one's home or a hospice facility.   


With health reform becoming law, Medicaid (state-federal program for the poor) must now provide both palliative care and curative care for children with terminal health conditions.  Additionally, Medicare is instructed to start approximately 15 demonstration projects around the US (rural/urban mix) to test this palliative and curative combination.  Basically, the demonstration projects will be 3-year programs allowing individuals to receive all currently covered Medicare services while simultaneously receiving hospice care.  If the demonstration projects show benefits (defined as the impact on patient care and quality of life) without increasing costs, this could become a new policy for Medicare.  It is listed as Section 3140 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (and its reconciled Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act) and is called the Medicare Hospice Concurrent Care Demonstration Program.  


What do you think the outcome will be?  Will this combination of therapies work?  Will costs increase?  Does the addition of curative therapies confuse the point of hospice care (to end life peacefully and with dignity)? Will this make the end of life easier or more difficult for families?