The Quality Hospice Programs Act, introduced in H.4327 as only a slight deviation from the Hospice Licensure Act, expresses limitations and regulations with regards to ‘multiple location’ hospice facilities. A multiple location hospice facility is defined as an additional site from which a parent hospice organization operates. The bill would require an additional license provided by DHEC in order to operate multiple locations. Any additional facility would need to be located in a county adjacent to the county in which the parent organization is located. The reasoning for this geographical restriction is to ensure that the parent organization is capable of distributing high quality administration, supervision, and service to its secondary facilities.
The problem here is that private companies, including hospice care facilities, should not be bound by law to operate in select locations for reasons that lawmakers feel are necessary. Artificial restrictions on the expansion of on organizations who have already proven themselves capable of delivering care may have the effect of denying access to hospice care to those in need. One of the underlying flaws in our economy is that it is not guided by free-market policies. Take some time to read our 8-point reform agenda for solutions to this problem.