Bill Text: CA SB294 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Hospice: services to seriously ill patients.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-10-05 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 515, Statutes of 2017. [SB294 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB294-Chaptered.html
| Senate Bill No. 294 |
| CHAPTER 515 |
An act to add and repeal Section 1747.3 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hospice.
[
Approved by
Governor
October 05, 2017.
Filed with
Secretary of State
October 05, 2017.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 294, Hernandez.
Hospice: services to seriously ill patients.
(1) The California Hospice Licensure Act of 1990 provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Public Health of persons or agencies that provide hospice, which is a type of interdisciplinary health care that includes palliative care to individuals experiencing the last phases of life due to the existence of a terminal disease and supportive care to the primary caregivers and family of the hospice patient. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor.
The bill would authorize, until January 1, 2022, a licensee under the act to provide any of the authorized interdisciplinary hospice services, including palliative care, to a patient who
has a serious illness. The bill would require a licensee that elects to provide palliative care pursuant to this temporary authorization to report additional specified information to the department, including the number of patients receiving palliative care. By modifying the scope of a crime for a violation of the act, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department, on or before June 1, 2021, to convene a stakeholder meeting to discuss the results of the information collected pursuant to these provisions.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 1747.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:1747.3.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, beginning January 1, 2018, a licensee pursuant to this chapter may provide any interdisciplinary hospice services described in this chapter, including, but not limited to, palliative care, to a patient with a serious illness as determined by the physician and surgeon in charge of the care of the patient, including, among other kinds of patients, a patient who continues to receive curative treatment from other licensed health care professionals.(b) A licensee that elects to provide palliative care pursuant to this section shall provide the department with the date the licensee intends to begin providing the palliative care no less than 45 days before that date and all of the following:
(1) The completed relevant portions of a form HS 200, or a successor form, as determined by the department.
(2) A complete federal form CMS 417, or a successor form, as determined by the department.
(c) (1) The department shall not require the documents submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) to be approved prior to the licensee providing palliative care pursuant to this section.
(2) The department shall not charge an application fee to provide any care or services pursuant to this section.
(d) On or before January 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2021, a licensee shall provide the department with all of the following information for the period of time the licensee
provided palliative care pursuant to this section on a form prescribed by the department:
(1) The number of non-hospice patients who received palliative care pursuant to this section.
(2) The number of patients enrolled in hospice.
(3) The primary diagnoses of the patients for which the licensee provided palliative care pursuant to this section.
(4) The numbers and types of providers hired during the previous 12 months.
(5) The numbers and types of providers who left employment during the previous 12 months.
(6) Complaints received by the licensee during the previous 12 months that related to all the following:
(A) Events that caused or were likely to cause serious injury, harm, impairment, or death.
(B) Events or incidents that negatively impacted a patient’s mental, physical, or psychosocial status and were of such consequence to the patient’s well-being that a rapid response was required.
(C) Delays in patient care for hospice and non-hospice patients who received palliative care pursuant to this section.
(D) Qualifications of staff.
(e) During the period of time a licensee provides palliative care pursuant to this section, the licensee shall simultaneously submit to the department all information the licensee provides to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
(f) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions of this section by means of all-facility letters, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action.
(g) If the licensee ceases to provide palliative care services pursuant to this section on or before January 1, 2022, the licensee shall submit to the department the same documents as required in subdivision (b).
(h) The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to a hospice facility established pursuant to subdivision (n) of Section 1250, or Section 1339.30 or 1339.40.
(i) This
section shall not be deemed to modify the provision of hospice care required pursuant to Section 1368.2.
(j) On or before June 1, 2021, the department shall convene a stakeholder meeting to discuss the results of the information collected pursuant to this section. The department may, at its discretion, use electronic means, such as a webinar, to convene the stakeholder meeting.
(k) For purposes of this section, “serious illness” shall mean a condition that may result in death, regardless of the estimated length of the patient’s remaining period of life.
(l) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2022, and as of that date is repealed.
