Hospice: services to seriously ill patients.

Under the California Hospice Licensure Act of 1990, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates 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 act authorizes, 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. This bill would extend the authority under these provisions until January 1, 2027. Existing law requires a licensee, on or before January 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2021, to provide the department with designated information for the period of time the licensee provided palliative care, on a form prescribed by the department. This bill would extend this requirement to each April 30, beginning April 30, 2022, until April 30, 2025. The bill would instead require the licensee to provide the department with information for the period of time in the prior calendar year during which the licensee was approved to provide palliative care, and would require the information to be reported through the department's online reporting portal, as specified, rather than on a form prescribed by the department. Existing law requires the department, on or before June 1, 2021, to convene a stakeholder meeting to discuss the results of the information collected from licensees pursuant to these provisions. This bill would instead require the department to convene the stakeholder meeting on or before January 15, 2026. By extending the operation of provisions of law creating a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.