HPNA State Ambassadors Quarterly Update September 12, 2024

Legislative Update

Appropriations

Congress has reconvened for several weeks, with the looming deadline of Sept. 30 to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The most likely scenario at this point seems to be a continuing resolution that would continue current levels of funding until after the election, sometime in November or as late as December. The Labor-HHS appropriations bill passed by the House and Senate committees varied greatly, and HPNA sent a letter to Senate Appropriators thanking them for including $12.5 million for palliative care research at NIA, as well as strong funding levels for the National Institute of Nursing Research and Title VIII programs. We also urged them to ensure that those funding levels remain in any future appropriations bill that is negotiated by appropriators in the House and Senate.

 

Hospice CARE Act

We also expect Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) to introduce the Hospice CARE Act sometime this month. Alongside our partners at the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care, we have been providing input to legislative staff on the discussion draft of the bill and recently sent this letter offering our support and recommendations on key provisions impacting nurses.  

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Regulatory Update

Several payment rules have been released in the past few months and that we have been working through coalition workgroups to provide input where appropriate. We recently signed onto the Patient Quality of Life Coalition’s comment letter on the Physician Fee Schedule. In July, CMS issued the final rule updating Medicare hospice payment rates, and as expected, the rule replaces the Hospice Item Set with the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool. More information on that transition can be found here.

 

Advocacy Initiatives

 

Current calls to action

 

Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act
Lorna Breen Reauthorization Act
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training (PCHETA) Act

 

Upcoming Advocacy Events

• 9/20: Advocacy Opportunities at HPNA
• 9/28: Team Conference closing plenary: Harnessing the Power of Storytelling to Impact Public Policy, in-person in Baltimore, virtual option available
• Mid-November: Post-election event to discuss results and impact on health policy with Gayle Gerdes, Health Policy Source

 

Future meetings with Advocacy Committee

Advocacy committee members shared that having an introductory meeting with state ambassadors was helpful and insightful—we will be planning a joint meeting on both an annual and ad-hoc basis.

 

State Updates

 

Colorado
MAID bill allowing APRNs to prescribe and certify terminal illness
Work to obtain APRN signing authority for death certificates (we also have advocates in California working on this)
Workplace violence legislation failed previously but there is advocacy work to re-introduce it with amended language to include hospice, home health and other practitioners not previously covered

Oregon

Safe staffing legislation
Workplace violence
APRN joint protocol