Some hospice advocates in Mississippi are calling on Congress to evaluate hospice benefits. A conference of hospice providers was held Tuesday in Meridian.

Hospice representatives says hospices in Mississippi, and across the nation, are battling for better Medicare hospice benefits.

National Alliance for Hospice Access representative Lois Armstrong met with locals to discuss issues of mutual concern.

Officials say a cap on hospice coverage works against most elderly people in hospice care.

"In Mississippi alone, 60 percent of Mississippi hospices will be asked to refund money to Medicaid that they were paid to care for eligible, dying Medicare patients," said Lois Armstrong of the National Alliance for Hospice Access.

Hospice care is for individuals who are terminally ill, but advocates point out that patients live with their illnesses for varying lengths of time.