HF 3048

3rd Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 05/18/2016 09:10am

A bill for an act
relating to health; modifying definitions related to hospice services to include
care to certain individuals 21 years of age or younger diagnosed with a
life-threatening condition; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes
2014, section 144A.75, subdivisions 5, 6, 8, by adding a subdivision; Minnesota
Statutes 2015 Supplement, section 144A.75, subdivision 13.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144A.75, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Hospice provider.

"Hospice provider" means an individual, organization,
association, corporation, unit of government, or other entity that is regularly engaged
in the delivery, directly or by contractual arrangement, of hospice services for a fee to
deleted text begin terminally ill deleted text end hospice patients. A hospice must provide all core services.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144A.75, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Hospice patient.

"Hospice patient" means an individual deleted text begin who has been
diagnosed as terminally ill, with a probable life expectancy of under one year, as deleted text end new text begin whose
illness has been new text end documented by the individual's attending physician and hospice medical
director, who alone or, when unable, through the individual's family has voluntarily
consented to and received admission to a hospice provider new text begin , and who:
new text end

new text begin (1) has been diagnosed as terminally ill, with a probable life expectancy of under
one year; or
new text end

new text begin (2) is 21 years of age or younger and has been diagnosed with a life-threatening
illness contributing to a shortened life expectancy new text end .

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144A.75, subdivision 8, is amended to read:

Subd. 8.

Hospice services; hospice care.

"Hospice services" or "hospice care"
means palliative and supportive care and other services provided by an interdisciplinary
team under the direction of an identifiable hospice administration to deleted text begin terminally ill deleted text end hospice
patients and their families to meet the physical, nutritional, emotional, social, spiritual,
and special needs experienced during the final stages of illness, dying, and bereavement new text begin ,
or during a life-threatening illness contributing to a shortened life expectancy new text end . These
services are provided through a centrally coordinated program that ensures continuity and
consistency of home and inpatient care that is provided directly or through an agreement.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2015 Supplement, section 144A.75, subdivision 13, is
amended to read:

Subd. 13.

Residential hospice facility.

(a) "Residential hospice facility" means a
facility that resembles a single-family home new text begin modified to address life safety, accessibility,
and care needs, new text end located in a residential area that directly provides 24-hour residential
and support services in a home-like setting for hospice patients as an integral part of the
continuum of home care provided by a hospice and that houses:

(1) no more than eight hospice patients; or

(2) at least nine and no more than 12 hospice patients with the approval of the local
governing authority, notwithstanding section 462.357, subdivision 8.

(b) Residential hospice facility also means a facility that directly provides 24-hour
residential and support services for hospice patients and that:

(1) houses no more than 21 hospice patients;

(2) meets hospice certification regulations adopted pursuant to title XVIII of the
federal Social Security Act, United States Code, title 42, section 1395, et seq.; and

(3) is located on St. Anthony Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was licensed as a
40-bed non-Medicare certified nursing home as of January 1, 2015.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144A.75, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 13a. new text end

new text begin Respite care. new text end

new text begin "Respite care" means short-term care in an inpatient facility
such as a residential hospice facility, when necessary to relieve the hospice patient's family
or other persons caring for the patient. Respite care may be provided on an occasional basis.
new text end

Sec. 6. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $5,000 in fiscal year 2017 is appropriated from the state government special revenue
fund to the commissioner of health for licensure of hospice providers that provide care
to hospice patients who are 21 years of age or younger and have been diagnosed with a
life-threatening illness contributing to a shortened life expectancy.
new text end