§ 4000. Legislative declaration. The legislature finds and declares
that hospice is a socially and financially beneficial alternative to
conventional curative care for those afflicted by terminal illness. It
further finds that hospice is a unique, interdisciplinary program of
palliative and supportive care to meet the stresses associated with
illness, death and bereavement through the innovation and reorganization
of home and traditional inpatient health services.

In recognition of the value of hospice and consistent with state
policy to encourage the expansion of health care service options
available to New York state residents, it is the intention of the
legislature that hospice be available to all who seek such care and that
it become a permanent component of the state's health care system.