New Jersey has joined a growing list of states that are establishing laws to advance palliative care. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed a bill to create a state advisory council on palliative care and quality of life. The new law also includes provisions for a hospice and palliative care access program to expand public […]
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has launched a new caucus to focus on legislation and policy that impacts palliative care. The legislators said they expect the Comprehensive Care Caucus to raise awareness of palliative care, promote utilization, improve care coordination, support caregivers and expand access to palliative care services. Founding members of the Comprehensive […]
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D, has signed into law a bill that exempts hospices from opioid prescribing restrictions that the state enacted last year to combat the national addiction and overdose epidemic. Prior to this legislation, the law mandated that prescribers have a “bona fide” prescriber-patient relationship, and that the prescriber obtain reports from the […]
The influential Ways and Means Committee within the U.S. House of Representatives has convened a Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force to consider health care delivery challenges in rural areas. The move comes as both chambers of Congress consider versions of legislation to expand hospice in rural locales. The Rural Access to Hospice Act […]
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) have introduced the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) in the U.S. Senate. The legislation would provide resources to support clinician training to reduce staff shortages in the industry and help providers meet continuously rising demand for those services as the population ages. […]
Bipartisan Congressional efforts to expand palliative care utilization and combat ongoing staffing shortages are proceeding apace with the introduction of the Provider Training in Palliative Care Act by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The bill would make palliative care medicine an eligible primary care service under the National Health Service Corps […]
As hospices ready themselves for a Medicare Advantage (MA) carve-in, U.S. Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-Wa.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) plan to introduce a bill to reduce regulatory burdens associated with the prior authorization process, a legislative aide from DelBene’s office told Hospice News. Though the bill text is not yet complete, the co-sponsors are basing […]
First proposed in 2017, the Rural Access to Hospice Act is expected to pass the 116th Congress due to widespread bipartisan support, according to hospice policy advocates. U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), reintroduced the legislation last week. If enacted it would remove a statutory barrier in current law, allowing patients […]
A new bill was introduced Thursday in the Senate to expand access to hospice care in rural areas. Introduced by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the bill is designed to remove a statutory barrier in current law and allow people to receive hospice care from their local trusted primary care […]
The Right to Try Act, designed to give patients with life-threatening illnesses access to experimental therapies, could delay referrals of pediatric cancer patients to palliative care, according to a viewpoint appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association-Oncology. “When pediatric oncologists perceive that patients and families want to ‘do everything,’ even broaching the idea […]