HEALTH SERVICES: Provides relative to hospice care. (gov sig) (EN SEE FISC NOTE GF EX See Note)
Summary
SB 45 creates a new exemption from Louisiana hospice licensure requirements for certain nonprofit organizations that provide gratuitous end-of-life care in a home-like setting. To qualify, an organization must provide accommodations and services at no cost to the patient or family, accept no Medicare, Medicaid, or other public or private insurance payments, and house no more than three patients in private bedrooms at a single location owned or operated by the nonprofit.
The bill also specifies how hospice care is to operate in these exempt settings. A qualifying organization is treated as the patient’s place of residence for home hospice purposes, medications are to be handled as if the patient were at home, the licensed hospice provider remains responsible for the plan of care, and a caregiver designated by the organization may perform delegated tasks similarly to a family caregiver. The bill further provides that licensed healthcare professionals who delegate such tasks in good faith and with reasonable care are immune from disciplinary or adverse administrative action by their licensing boards.
Impact
SB 45 amends Louisiana law by enacting R.S. 40:2183.1 and carving out a narrow exemption from hospice licensure and related home- and community-based service provider licensure rules for qualifying nonprofit end-of-life care organizations. It affects nonprofit hospice-like facilities, licensed hospice providers, caregivers, and professional licensing boards by clarifying how care, medication administration, and delegated tasks are to be handled in these settings.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have enjoyed strong bipartisan support and little visible opposition. It passed the Senate 37-0, the House 89-0, and the Senate concurrence vote 35-0, and it was ultimately signed by the governor as Act 453. The unanimous votes suggest broad agreement with the bill’s goal of supporting charitable end-of-life care options.
Contention
No committee debate or recorded opposition is provided, and the vote history shows no dissent. The main policy issue embedded in the bill is the balance between expanding flexibility for nonprofit, home-like hospice care settings and preserving regulatory oversight through strict eligibility criteria. The bill also touches on professional accountability by granting immunity to licensed healthcare professionals who delegate caregiver tasks in good faith, which could be a point of concern in other contexts even though it did not generate recorded opposition here.