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 […]
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) has signed legislation that will permit the establishment of residential end-of-life care facilities in the state. The new law gives the state Department of Health authority to license these operations. Such laws are common in the United States. North Dakota may be the last state in the nation to […]
The U.S. Senate has voted to extend the moratorium on Medicare payment sequestration for hospice and other health care organizations through the end of the year. The Senate bill must now go to the House, which is unlikely to pass the legislation before the current expiration date of March 31. The Senate approved the bill […]
The American Rescue Plan of 2021 has cleared its last congressional hurdle before going to President Biden for signature. The $1.9 trillion stimulus package contains $8.5 billion in aid targeted at rural providers, including hospices. However, the bill did not increase the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) or extend the moratorium on payment sequestration. The U.S […]
Programs established in the most recent COVID-19 relief legislation, passed in December, will go a long way to bolstering hospices that have taken operational and financial punches from the pandemic. A recent analysis from the National Association for Home Care & Hospice indicates that providers will likely need more support to ride out the continuing […]
After much debate, the U.S. Congress approved Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which will keep the government running and fund federal agencies into the new year. The bill, which the president is expected to sign, includes hospice-specific line items intended to improve rural access to services and retool regulatory enforcement, as well as provide COVID-19 […]
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification Act of 2019 (BENES). While the main focus of that bill relates to Medicare eligibility and enrollment, it would also change the frequency of regulatory hospice surveys to every two years instead of every three years, among other provisions. The legislation […]
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