HSC §1753.1: On or before January 1, 2026, the department shall adopt emergency regulations to implement the recommendations in California State Auditor Report 2021-123 on the California Hospice Licensure and Over

On or before January 1, 2026, the department shall adopt emergency regulations to implement the recommendations in California State Auditor Report 2021-123 on the California Hospice Licensure and Oversight (March 29, 2022). The department shall maintain the general moratorium on new hospice agency licenses until the department adopts the regulations. The emergency regulations shall do all of the following: (a) Establish time and distance standards that define the maximum time and distance hospice agency staff may travel to reach patients, taking into consideration typical traffic conditions and whether the hospice agency is serving patients in rural or urban areas. (b) Establish standards for a hospice agency’s ratio of nurses to patients. (c) Establish a limit for the number of hospice agencies that hospice agency management personnel can be involved with concurrently. (d) Require hospice agency management personnel to meet minimum standards of training and experience, including, but not limited to, hospice-specific training or experience. (e) Establish specific requirements for hospice agency office space. (f) Establish timelines for reporting changes to application information, including, but not limited to, change of mailing address, change of location, and change of name.