Experts urge Legislature to pass bill preventing for-profit and private equity hospice in New York

Experts urge Legislature to pass bill preventing for-profit and private equity hospice in New York
Spectrum News 1; by Susan Arbetter; 5/21/24
The FBI has issued public warnings about hospice fraud in four states — Texas, Arizona, Nevada and California. The bureau is alerting consumers to a wide-spread scam in which patients are enrolled in hospice without their knowledge by recruiters who “sell” hospice care to people who aren’t actually eligible. ...  One reason fraudsters have yet to gain a foothold in New York is that new hospices here go through a “Certificate of Need” process (CON) which reviews applications, provides for public comment and ensures that hospice operators don’t have a history of fraud or abuse. But according to Jeanne Chirico, president and CEO of the Hospice & Palliative Care Association of NYS (HPCANYS), and Kara Travis, president and CEO of Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care, and a trustee of HPCANYS, there’s more that New York can do to protect consumers. They are urging lawmakers to pass a bill carried by state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Amy Paulin that would prohibit the establishment of new for-profit hospices in the state (A6032 - Paulin / S6460 – Krueger).