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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1540
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6497
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
PEDIATRIC HOSPICE WORKING GROUP.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 29 of public act 24-19 is repealed and the following 1
is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) The chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General 3
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health shall 4
establish a working group to examine hospice services for pediatric 5
patients across the state. The working group shall include, but need not 6
be limited to, the following members: 7
(1) At least one representative of each pediatric hospice association in 8
the state; 9
(2) One representative of each organization licensed as a hospice by 10
the Department of Public Health pursuant to section 19a-122b of the 11
general statutes; 12
(3) At least one representative of an association of hospitals in the 13 Raised Bill No. 1540
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state; 14
(4) One representative each of two children's hospitals in the state; 15
(5) One pediatric oncologist; 16
(6) One pediatric intensivist; 17
(7) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 18
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 19
relating to public health; 20
(8) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's 21
designee; and 22
(9) The Commissioner of Social Services, or the commissioner's 23
designee. 24
(b) [The] (1) On and before March 1, 2025, the working group shall be 25
responsible for the following: 26
[(1)] (A) Reviewing existing hospice services for pediatric patients 27
across the state; 28
[(2)] (B) Making recommendations for appropriate levels of hospice 29
services for pediatric patients across the state; and 30
[(3)] (C) Evaluating payment and funding options for pediatric 31
hospice care. 32
(2) On and after March 1, 2025, and before July 1, 2026, the working 33
group shall be responsible for developing recommendations for the 34
establishment of a Children's Health, Advocacy, Management and 35
Palliative Care program and, within such program, a Pediatric Palliative 36
and Hospice Care Center of Excellence pilot program, as described in 37
the working group's report submitted pursuant to subdivision (1) of 38
subsection (f) of this section, including, but not limited to, 39
recommendations regarding (A) appropriations necessary to establish 40
such program and pilot program, (B) requirements for the operation of 41 Raised Bill No. 1540
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the pilot program, including, but not limited to, staff and facility 42
requirements, (C) education and curriculum requirements for nurses 43
participating in the pilot program or providing pediatric palliative or 44
hospice care services, and (D) any licensing or certification requirements 45
necessary for the operation of the pilot program or expanding the 46
provision of pediatric palliative or hospice care services in the state. 47
(c) The cochairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General 48
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health shall 49
schedule the first meeting of the working group, which shall be held not 50
later than [sixty days after the effective date of this section] July 20, 2024. 51
(d) The members of the working group shall elect two chairpersons 52
from among the members of the working group. Not later than thirty 53
days after the effective date of this section, the chairpersons of the 54
working group shall schedule a meeting of the working group to initiate 55
work on the responsibilities described in subdivision (2) of subsection 56
(b) of this section. 57
(e) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 58
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 59
health shall serve as administrative staff of the working group. 60
(f) (1) Not later than March 1, 2025, the chairpersons of the working 61
group shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of 62
the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 63
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health 64
concerning the findings of the working group. 65
(2) Not later than March 1, 2026, the chairpersons of the working 66
group shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of 67
the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 68
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health 69
concerning the recommendations developed pursuant to subdivision (2) 70
of subsection (b) of this section. 71
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Not later than July 1, 2026, the 72 Raised Bill No. 1540
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Commissioner of Public Health shall, in collaboration with hospitals 73
and hospice agencies in the state, establish a Children's Health, 74
Advocacy, Management and Palliative Care program and, within such 75
program, a Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Center of Excellence 76
pilot program. Such pilot program shall (1) utilize best practices to 77
support the expansion of pediatric palliative and hospice care in the 78
state, and (2) include tracking of patient metrics to predict the scope of 79
future pediatric palliative and hospice care services needs in the state. 80
The commissioner may contract with a hospice agency in the state to 81
operate such pilot program. Not later than January 1, 2027, the 82
commissioner shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions 83
of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee 84
of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 85
health regarding such pilot program. Such report shall include, but need 86
not be limited to, information regarding the number of pediatric 87
patients that received hospice care under the pilot program, a summary 88
of any relevant pilot program feedback received by the commissioner 89
from any patient, patient's family member, health care provider, 90
hospital or hospice agency and legislative recommendations for the 91
expansion of the Children's Health, Advocacy, Management and 92
Palliative Care program or the Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care 93
Center of Excellence pilot program. 94
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage PA 24-19, Sec. 29
Sec. 2 from passage New section
PH Joint Favorable C/R APP