The HAN team is deeply appreciative for all of the hospice and palliative care advocates who took action last week by calling, emailing, and messaging their lawmakers via social media regarding the need for a 1135 waiver for hospice and increased funding and availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the provider community. As of…

As new cases of Corona Virus (COVID-19) are confirmed in the United States, it’s imperative that the hospice and palliative care community is equipped with emergency preparedness resources and information regarding this virus. NHPCO’s COVID-19 Information Page provides: For more information, visit the NHPCO Website.

On February 10, the House of Representatives introduced the “HOSPICE” Act to address issues related to hospice program integrity. See below for NHPCO’s public statement on this legislation: For Immediate Release:February 10, 2020 NHPCO Releases Statement on House Program Integrity Legislation (Alexandria, VA) – Today the House of Representatives introduced the “Helping Our Senior Population in…

On January 15, NHPCO hosted “We Are Hospice”, a resource fair to educate lawmakers and their staff about the value of person-centered care and celebrate the hospice community. The event was cosponsored by the Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care and 10 hospice care providers and community partners participated including AAHPM, HPNA, SWPHN, Pet Peace…

We recently got some great news: the Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing the Rural Access to Hospice Act would only cost $5 million over ten years. While that sounds like a lot of money to us normal folks, in the scheme of the United States budget, that is not a lot of money. That…

Some unfortunate news – PCHETA has been removed from today’s HELP Committee Markup. It is our understanding that the Department of Health and Human Services raised concerns about some of the accreditation language in the bill. While we are working to understand the exact nature of their concerns, we are committed to providing an appropriate…

The HAN team is excited to announce that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee will consider the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA, S.2080) during a mark-up on December 12th at 10:00 AM ET. HELP Committee Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray were negotiating the final bill text earlier…

Despite all the hustle and bustle around the impeachment hearings, last Thursday, November 14, Congress took time to conduct a hearing on Caring for Aging Americans. An issue that is undoubtedly nonpartisan and far less controversial, but one that is being discussed more and more often as America’s baby boomer population ages and caregivers are…

Today, Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced the Hospice Care Improvement Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill that addresses hospice program integrity, transparency, and education. The legislation follows the release of the July 2019 Office of the Inspector General reports that cited hospice deficiencies and serious incidents of patient abuse.  NHPCO…

On Oct. 28, PCHETA – the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (H.R. 647) – passed in the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support. PCHETA, introduced by Congressmen Eliot Engel (D-NY), Tom Reed (R-NY), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Greg Walden (R-OR), will help to expand palliative…