A proposal for sweeping changes to Medicare’s hospice benefit has been introduced in Congress.
 
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon,  introduced the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement Act (Hospice CARE Act) on Sept. 26. He noted in a news release that the hospice benefit has remained largely unchanged since its inception in 1982.
 
“The United States spends significantly more on health care than other developed nations for worse outcomes. Nowhere is this more egregious than in the hospice industry,” Blumenauer says. “Patients and families deserve better. We need a reset. It is past time for Congress to act to end the fraud, waste, and abuse within the hospice benefit and bring it into the 21st century.”
 
If signed into law, the Hospice CARE Act would:
  • Reform the payment structure: The legislation revises the payment structure to incentivize high-quality care, Blumenauer says.
  • Bolster program integrity: Additional safeguards and oversight includes temporarily preventing new hospices from enrolling in Medicare, with exceptions where additional access to care is needed, increasing survey frequency and increasing ownership transparency, according to the release.
A one-page fact sheet can be found here. Bill text here. 
 
Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO, LeadingAge called the legislation a “first-of-its-kind opportunity” to improve the hospice benefit.
 
“Done right, changes will expand the benefit to support the realities of modern-day hospice care and address vulnerabilities that are currently being exploited,” she says. “There is more work to do and we look forward to continuing our productive partnership to ensure this bill achieves these goals.” 
 
In a statement, the National Alliance for Care at Home noted Blumenauer’s efforts to involve stakeholders in the process of developing the legislation. The Alliance noted it will “continue to work closely with congressional leaders on the finer points of the proposed bill to ensure that the final legislation supports the needs of patients, families and providers alike.”