Report 2021-123 Recommendation Responses
Report 2021-123: California Hospice Licensure and Oversight: The State's Weak Oversight of Hospice Agencies Has Created Opportunities for Large-Scale Fraud and Abuse (Release Date: March 2022)
Recommendation for Legislative Action
To protect the health and safety of current and prospective hospice patients, the Legislature should require Public Health to issue emergency regulations within one year, while maintaining the general moratorium on new hospice licenses until Public Health issues the regulations. The emergency regulations should do the following: Require Public Health to verify the status of the professional licenses for all hospice medical personnel, including contracted medical directors, as part of the initial license application. The regulations should also establish guidelines for when Public Health must deny the application of a hospice agency that is proposing to use medical personnel whose professional license records indicate the imposition of a disciplinary action. For instance, probation for gross negligence or fraudulent billing should be a cause to deny a hospice agency's application, even if the medical director's license is currently active.
Description of Legislative Action
AB 2673 (Chapter 797, Statutes of 2022) requires, among other things, the Department of Public Health to issue emergency regulations to implement the recommendations in this audit report. This bill requires Public Health to maintain the moratorium on new hospice agencies until it adopts regulations, but no later than March 29, 2024, two years from the date we issued our audit report. This bill also requires Public Health to verify the status of professional licensure for hospice agency personnel. However, this bill does not specifically require the regulations to include guidelines for when Public Health must deny the application of a hospice agency that is proposing to use medical personnel whose professional license records indicate the imposition of a disciplinary action.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: January 2023