HOSPICE Act
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 544.
Helping Our Senior Population in Comfort Environments Act or the HOSPICE Act
This bill establishes survey requirements for, and enforcement mechanisms against, certified hospice programs under Medicare.
Specifically, certified programs must undergo periodic surveys by a state, local, or approved accreditation agency, as specified; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must provide appropriate training for surveyors and publish information relating to survey results on its website. The CMS must also (1) conduct more frequent surveys of programs that are found to be noncompliant with applicable standards; and (2) take specified enforcement actions against such programs, based on the severity of the deficiencies. Enforcement actions include civil penalties, suspended Medicare payments, and termination of program certification.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House, Part I" stage on December 17, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 17, 2020: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 544.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) introduced it on February 10, 2020, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 10, 2020, 2404 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2093 days ago, on December 17, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers