Sunday, August 17, 2014

CA: More Inspections of Medicare Hospice Programs Demanded by New House Bill

Just before the House of Representatives slammed the door shut to go on their August recess, a bi-partisan bill was introduced that will require “more timely” surveys of Medicare-certified hospice care programs, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

The legislation - the Hospice Opportunities for Supporting Patients with Integrity and Care Evaluations (HOSPICE) Act, HR 5393 - was introduced on August 1 by Congressmen Tom Reed (R-NY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA).
 
The NHPCO says in a news release that  it “enthusiastically supports this new legislation.”
 
The HOSPICE Act would require that hospices be surveyed no less frequently than every three years and authorizes funding for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to contract for the additional oversight.
 

2 comments:

Thelma said...

Will it pass and be funded?
Our government is really slacking on protecting it elderly citizens.

StandUp said...

No one is watching hospice now and like guardianship abuse, it will harm many innocent people before legislation does something about it. I am glad to know of Hospice Patience Alliance and will support their efforts.