Substitute House Bill 286 Summary

• Creates the Palliative Care and Quality of Life Interdisciplinary Council with up to 20 members representing physicians, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, social workers, patients, and other health care professions to advise on palliative care initiatives and submit annual improvement recommendations by December 31 each year.

• Establishes a Department of Health palliative care consumer and professional information and education program to publish information on continuing education, delivery models, best practices, and consumer referral resources on the department's website.

• Requires hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, nursing homes, veterans' homes, hospice programs, and home health agencies to establish systems for identifying patients who could benefit from palliative care and provide them with information about palliative care options.

• Authorizes hospice care programs to provide palliative care in their inpatient facilities to non-hospice patients on a short-term, medically necessary basis, and exempts certain palliative care facilities from pain management clinic licensing requirements if patients have life-threatening illnesses.

• Permits the Director of Health to approve relocation of up to 30 nursing home beds from one county to a contiguous county under certificate of need applications, and specifies that Medicaid coverage for palliative care is not expanded beyond existing levels.