Hospice agency licensure.

The California Hospice Licensure Act of 1990 requires a person, political subdivision of the state, or other governmental agency to obtain a license from the State Department of Public Health to provide hospice services to an individual who is experiencing the last phase of life due to a terminal disease, as defined, and their family, except as provided. The act also provides for the renewal of a license. Existing law prohibits any person, political subdivision of the state, or other governmental agency from establishing, conducting, maintaining, or representing itself as a hospice agency unless a license has been issued under the act. Existing law requires that the department issue a license to a hospice agency that applies to the department for a hospice agency license and meets specified requirements, including accreditation as a hospice by an entity approved the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a national accreditation organization, and the national accreditation organization forwards copies to the department of all initial and subsequent survey and other accreditation reports or findings. This bill would require any hospice agency obtaining a license to obtain certification to participate in the federal Medicare program within 12 months of licensure and continuously serve patients as validated by data submission to the Department of Health Care Access and Information, or forfeit its license.