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, as part of its review of the initial application, that Public Health verify that the hospice management personnel
listed on the licensing application are, in fact, associated with the hospice agency, such as by contacting them by phone, and verify the work history of hospice management personnel by speaking with these individuals' previous employers by phone.
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 and allows Public Health to verify the association of hospice agency management personnel listed on the licensing application with the hospice agency and to verify the work history of hospice agency management personnel. This bill states that verification may include contacting the hospice agency personnel or previous employers by telephone.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: January 2023