House Unanimously Passes Congressman Panetta’s Legislation to Improve Accountability in Hospice Facilities

Watch Congressman Panetta speak on the House floor urging support for the Hospice Act here.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) commended the unanimous House passage of the bipartisan Helping Our Senior Population in Comfort Environments (HOSPICE) Act. Congressman Panetta introduced the legislation with Congressman Reed (R-NY-23) in February. The Representatives' legislation will require additional oversight and transparency of Medicare hospice providers and was passed today as part of the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act.

"Most hospice facilities provide compassionate care to patients and families, but there are some that fail to rise to the standards those in their care deserve," said Congressman Panetta. "Our legislation increases transparency and accountability to support the safety and wellbeing of hospice caregivers and those in their care. Today's unanimous passage of the HOSPICE ACT is a win for every patients, their families, and hospice caregivers on the Central Coast and nationwide."

In July 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) released two reports that identified significant deficiencies in the quality of care delivered to Medicare hospice enrollees. According to the OIG's two reports, 87 percent of hospices had at least one care deficiency between 2012 and 2016. Twenty percent had at least one serious deficiency, meaning that the health and safety of a beneficiary were in jeopardy or the hospice was limited in its capacity to deliver adequate care. Currently the only remedy to penalize a poor performing hospice is removal from the Medicare program. The OIG issued a series of recommendations for the improvement of quality in hospice care, many of which are addressed in this bill.

To improve the hospice benefit and protect vulnerable patients, the HOSPICE Act would achieve parity with other post-acute care settings by providing HHS with remedies to oversee and penalize hospices that provide poor quality care, improve surveys and surveyor education, and increase transparency for patients and caregivers including requiring states to maintain a toll-free hotline for hospice patients and their families to report abuse and neglect.