BILL NUMBER: S9387

SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to the establishment,
incorporation, construction, or increase in capacity of for-profit
hospice

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prohibit future establishment or increased capacity of for-profit
hospice.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

The bill amends Public Health Law § 4004 (3) to prohibit the Public
Health and Health Planning Council of the Department of Health from
approving new applications for establishment, construction or increased
capacity by for-profit hospice entities. Existing for profit hospice
will remain approved but may not expand capacity.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association*
found that "for-profit compared with nonprofit hospices provide narrower
ranges of services to patients, use less skilled clinical staff, care
for patients with lower-skilled needs over longer enrollment periods,
have higher rates of complaint allegations and deficiencies, and provide
fewer community benefits, including training, research, and charity
care. For-profit hospices are more likely than nonprofit hospices to
discharge patients prior to death, to discharge patients with dementia,
and to have higher rates of hospital and emergency department use."

For-profit organizations have a duty to their owners to generate as much
profit as possible and distribute net income to the owners.  Their obli-
gations to the people they ostensibly serve are secondary.  This is
especially troubling in the case of hospice. The mission of hospice,
providing compassionate end-of-life care, should not be subservient to
providing profit to investors.

New York is uniquely situated to prevent the deterioration of end-of-
life care described above, as currently only two of 41 hospice in New
York are for-profit, compared to a national average of two-thirds as of
2017. Now is the time to place the care and safety of persons who are
dying first and foremost over profit.

* Hospice Tax Status and Ownership Matters for Patients and Families
JAMA Internal Medicine, August 1, 2021 By Melissa D. Aldridge.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately