NHPCO NewsLine Winter 2019 - 11

On November 7, 2019, Senators
Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben
Cardin (D-MD) introduced S.
2807, a bipartisan bill entitled the
Hospice Care Improvement Act of
2019, specifically written to
address the concerns identified
by the HHS Office of Inspector
General about hospice survey
deficiencies and patient harm.
The bill also prioritizes consumer
education by supporting access
to relevant and clear information
about hospice providers, intended
to lead to greater transparency
and more informed care
decisions. State and local survey
agencies and accrediting agencies
will be required to report survey
information, including targeted
deficiencies to the Center for

...NHPCO staff
engaged the
Regulatory,
Legislative Affairs,
and Quality &
Standards
Committees to
discuss hospice
program integrity
issues identified by
the OIG.

Medicare and Medicaid Services'
Hospice Compare website.
NHPCO supports many of the
policies in the bill as it closely
tracks NHPCO's recommended
Hospice Program Integrity
Initiatives published earlier this
year. Appreciation goes out to
members of the Legislative,
Regulatory, and Quality &
Standards Committees who all
worked diligently on vetting and
approving many of the program
integrity measures that were
included in this legislation.
This article offers some
background and analysis for
providers.

OIG Reports and
Program Integrity
The HHS Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) issued two reports
in July 2019 that outlined
deficiencies with CMS monitoring
of hospice and examples of poor
care. For more details on the July
reports, see the NHPCO
Regulatory Alert (07/09/19). The
reports - and subsequent reports
from the OIG - have attracted a
great deal of negative attention
from policy makers, were
featured on NPR and NBC Nightly
News and caused some members
of Congress to say that "we have
to do something about hospice."
The "do something" could have
meant public hearings on hospice,
a Congressional investigation or
worse, definitely not the publicity
that the hospice community
would want.

NHPCO staff immediately began
discussions with the relevant
Congressional committee staff -
on the House side, the House
Ways and Means Committee and
on the Senate side, the Senate
Finance Committee. The "do
something" discussion evolved
into creating a hospice program
integrity bill that would address
some of the issues identified for
CMS by the OIG.
Discussions with both the OIG
and CMS identified key areas
where legislative action could be
helpful in addressing hospice
program integrity issues.

Regulatory, Legislative
Affairs and Quality &
Standards Committees
Shortly after the OIG reports
were published, NHPCO staff
engaged the Regulatory,
Legislative Affairs, and Quality &
Standards Committees to discuss
hospice program integrity issues
identified by the OIG. Staff
shared concerns voiced by
policymakers, House and Senate
committee staff, and the OIG and
CMS with the three NHPCO
committees to examine and to
identify a series of program
integrity initiatives that would
address the concerns noted in the
OIG reports.
Each committee voted on each of
the program integrity initiatives
and only those that were
approved by all three committees
were included in the final NHPCO
Program Integrity Initiative.

Newsline / Winter 2019

11

https://www.nhpco.org/regulatory-and-quality/regulatory/updates/ https://www.nhpco.org/regulatory-and-quality/regulatory/updates/ https://www.nhpco.org/wp-content/uploads/Integrity_Initiatives_NHPCO_2019.pdf https://www.nhpco.org/wp-content/uploads/Integrity_Initiatives_NHPCO_2019.pdf

NHPCO NewsLine Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NHPCO NewsLine Winter 2019