Pennsylvania Act 1998-95 — HEALTH CARE FACILITIES ACT - AMEND HOSPICE SERVICES

Act text

HEALTH CARE FACILITIES ACT - AMEND HOSPICE SERVICES
                  Act of Oct. 16, 1998, P.L. 777, No. 95              Cl. 35
                             Session of 1998
                               No. 1998-95

     SB 996

                                  AN ACT

     Amending the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), entitled "An
        act relating to health care; prescribing the powers and
        duties of the Department of Health; establishing and
        providing the powers and duties of the State Health
        Coordinating Council, health systems agencies and Health Care
        Policy Board in the Department of Health, and State Health
        Facility Hearing Board in the Department of Justice;
        providing for certification of need of health care providers
        and prescribing penalties," providing for hospice services.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  The definition of "health care facility" in
     section 103 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known
     as the Health Care Facilities Act, amended December 18, 1992
     (P.L.1602, No.179), is amended to read:
      Section 103.  Definitions.
        The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
     have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
     meanings given to them in this section:
        * * *
        "Health care facility."  For purposes of Chapter 7, any
     health care facility providing clinically related health
     services, including, but not limited to, a general or special
     hospital, including psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation
     hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, long-term care
     nursing facilities, cancer treatment centers using radiation
     therapy on an ambulatory basis and inpatient drug and alcohol
     treatment facilities, both profit and nonprofit and including
     those operated by an agency or State or local government. The
     term shall also include a hospice. The term shall not include an
     office used primarily for the private or group practice by
     health care practitioners where no reviewable clinically related
     health service is offered, a facility providing treatment solely
     on the basis of prayer or spiritual means in accordance with the
     tenets of any church or religious denomination or a facility
     conducted by a religious organization for the purpose of
     providing health care services exclusively to clergy or other
     persons in a religious profession who are members of the
     religious denominations conducting the facility.
        * * *
        Section 2.  The definition of "health care facility" in
     section 802.1 of the act, amended December 18, 1992 (P.L.1602,
     No.179), is amended and the section is amended by adding a
     definition to read:
      Section 802.1.  Definitions.
        The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
     shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
     meanings given them in this section:
        * * *
        "Health care facility."  For purposes of Chapter 8, a health
     care facility includes, but is not limited to, a general,
     chronic disease or other type of hospital, a home health care
     agency, a hospice, a long-term care nursing facility, cancer
     treatment centers using radiation therapy on an ambulatory
     basis, an ambulatory surgical facility, a birth center
     regardless of whether such health care facility is operated for
     profit, nonprofit or by an agency of the Commonwealth or local
     government. The department shall have the authority to license
     other health care facilities as may be necessary due to
     emergence of new modes of health care. When the department so
     finds, it shall publish its intention to license a particular
     type of health care facility in the Pennsylvania Bulletin in
     accordance with the act of June 25, 1982 (P.L.633, No.181),
     known as the "Regulatory Review Act." The term health care
     facility shall not include an office used primarily for the
     private practice of a health care practitioner, nor a program
     which renders treatment or care for drug or alcohol abuse or
     dependence unless located within a health facility, nor a
     facility providing treatment solely on the basis of prayer or
     spiritual means. The term health care facility shall not apply
     to a facility which is conducted by a religious organization for
     the purpose of providing health care services exclusively to
     clergymen or other persons in a religious profession who are
     members of a religious denomination.
        * * *
        "Hospice."  An organization licensed under this act to
     provide a coordinated program of palliative and supportive
     services provided in a home, independent living environment or
     inpatient setting which provides for physical, psychological,
     social and spiritual care of dying persons and their families.
     Services are provided by a medically directed interdisciplinary
     team of professionals and volunteers, and bereavement care is
     available to the family following the death of the patient. The
     term shall also be deemed to refer to services provided by such
     an organization.
        * * *
        Section 3.  Section 806(a) of the act, amended December 18,
     1992 (P.L.1602, No.179), is amended and the section is amended
     by adding a subsection to read:
      Section 806.  Licensure.
        (a)  License required.--No person shall maintain or operate
     or hold itself out to be a health care facility without first
     having obtained a license therefor issued by the department. No
     health care facility can be a provider of medical assistance
     services unless it is licensed by the department and certified
     as a medical assistance provider.
        * * *
        (g)  Hospices.--
            (1)  The department shall promulgate regulations to
        provide for a fee for application for the licensure of
        hospices. The fee shall be an amount sufficient to offset all
        costs incurred by the department related to the licensure and
        inspection of hospices. The department shall from time to
        time, as may be necessary, increase or decrease the fee to
        reflect actual expenditures related to hospices. Until such
        time as the department provides for the fee by regulation, an
        application for a hospice license shall be accompanied by a
        fee of $250.
            (2)  The department shall promulgate regulations for
        licensure of hospices. The regulations shall, at a minimum,
        contain the standards set forth in regulations for hospices
        certified as providers of the Medicare program under Title
        XVIII of the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. §
        1395 et seq.). The department may develop additional
        regulations as necessary to administer the licensure program
        and to protect the health and safety of the citizens of this
        Commonwealth. Until final regulations are adopted, the
        department shall operate the licensing program pursuant to
        interim guidelines consistent with this paragraph.
            (3)  Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, any
        organization which provides or coordinates the provision of
        volunteer services for Medicare-certified hospice providers
        in the hospice delivery systems of its community and which:
                (i)  used "hospice" in its name prior to January 1,
            1990;
                (ii)  qualified for exemption from Federal income
            taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
            Code of 1986 (Public Law 99-514, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.)
            prior to the effective date of this subsection; and
                (iii)  registered with the Department of State
            pursuant to the act of December 19, 1990 (P.L.1200,
            No.202), known as the "Solicitation of Funds for
            Charitable Purposes Act," prior to the effective date of
            this subsection;
        may continue to use its name as heretofore.
        Section 4.  Section 808(b) of the act, amended December 18,
     1992 (P.L.1602, No.179), is amended to read:
      Section 808.  Issuance of license.
        * * *
        (b)  Separate and limited licenses.--Separate licenses shall
     not be required for different services within a single health
     care facility except that home health care, hospice or long-term
     nursing care will require separate licenses. A limited license,
     excluding from its terms a particular service or portion of a
     health care facility, may be issued under the provisions of this
     act.
        * * *
        Section 5.  This act shall take effect in 90 days.

     APPROVED--The 16th day of October, A. D. 1998.

     THOMAS J. RIDGE