A local nonprofit that cares for terminally ill patients got an $800,000 boost from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package.

The Denver Hospice was among many groups nationwide lobbying for a reversal in last year's Medicare cuts for end-of-life care. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act imposes a one-year moratorium on cuts that affected 52 hospice organizations in Colorado alone.

"The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid was trying to balance the White House budget at the expense of the dying by imposing rules that cut hospice reimbursements," Denver Hospice CEO Bev Sloan said. "We are pleased that Congress heard our message that federal support for hospice is the right thing to do for the terminally ill."

Sloan said hospices will push for restoring the funding beyond the one year. Her group employs 350 and has an annual operating budget of $38 million.

In all, the stimulus package that Obama signed in Denver on Tuesday restores about $134 million in fiscal 2009 Medicare funding for hospice programs across the country.

Colorado ranks among the highest in the country for the number of residents who opt for hospice care at home. Denver Hospice is the largest organization in the state.

Hospice programs allow patients to receive care at home in their dying days, while palliative care provides assistance to patients who face advanced illness but are not quite ready for hospice.

"About 30,000 Coloradans die every year and 14,000 use hospice," said Cordt Kassner, chief executive officer of Colorado Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, the association representing the industry.

The industry advocated aggressively in Washington to reverse funding cuts for its programs. The national group representing hospice providers cites a 2007 Duke University study showing hospice reduced Medicare costs by an average of $2,300 per patient for a total of more than $2 billion in savings annually.