California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has signed into law two pieces of legislation designed to strengthen hospice oversight. The new laws include a moratorium on new hospice provider licenses as well as an extensive audit of California’s licensing and oversight processes. State legislators began pursuing these bills — Senate Bill 664 and Assembly Bill 1280 […]
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska.) have re-introduced a bill designed to bolster the palliative care workforce. The Provider Training in Palliative Care Act would clear the way for members of the National Health Service Corps to defer their service for as long as one year to pursue additional training in palliative […]
Support is building in Congress for the establishment of a dedicated community-based palliative care benefit through Medicare. Ten members of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee have written to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to call for a demonstration to test such a benefit. Brooks-LaSure is administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) have introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would create a dedicated hospice and palliative care benefit within Medicaid for terminally ill children. If enacted, the Children’s Program of All-Inclusive Coordinated Care (ChiPACC) Act of 2021 would allow pediatric patients to receive those services […]
Four U.S. senators have introduced bipartisan legislation that would direct the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to develop a demonstration of a community-based palliative care payment and delivery model. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Barrasso (R-Wy.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Deb Fisher (R-Neb.) are sponsoring the Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act. The […]
Congressional lawmakers have eliminated proposals that would move dollars allocated to the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund (PRF) to pay for infrastructure improvements. Meanwhile, Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) have introduced a separate bill that would extend the PRF’s deadline to use the funds from June 30 to Dec. 31, or until the […]
The Illinois State Assembly has passed a bill to create an in-home palliative care benefit for children facing life-limiting conditions. The legislation will now go to Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) for signature. Stakeholders told Hospice News that the measure could signal advancement on establishing a national palliative care benefit. The Pediatric Palliative Care Bill (SB.2384) […]
A bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would grant federal funds to home-based providers for the recruitment, retention and advancement of direct care workers, including hospices. The bill could be an important vehicle for policy change at a federal level in support of a growing need for these workers in hospice. Stakeholders […]
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators have reintroduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021. If enacted the bill would expand Medicare coverage of telehealth service and make permanent flexibilities for virtual services implemented on a temporary basis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary sponsors include Sens […]
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation that extends the moratorium on Medicare sequestration through Dec. 31. The Senate passed the bill and late March, but House approval was delayed because that chamber was in recess. The bill now goes to President Biden, who is expected to sign it into law. The original moratorium […]
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