Oregon would review hospice applicants and temporarily limit new licenses

The Oregon Health Authority would review hospice applications, check criminal records, and could deny applications or revoke licenses for false information or other listed reasons. These rules cover new and renewal applications, proposed administrators and medical directors, certain owners, and hospice programs seeking to operate in Oregon. Initial applications must disclose certain negative licensing, fraud, abuse and federal-program histories, along with training, qualification and tax information. A person may not own part of a licensed hospice program after exclusion from Medicare or Medicaid or a finding of health care fraud or abuse. The authority must issue an initial license when the applicant meets legal and rule-based requirements and pays the application fee. A license lasts one year, and the authority must complete required rulemaking within 24 months after the act's effective date.

The Oregon Health Authority may not issue most new initial hospice licenses until it finishes required rulemaking. The restriction applies to new hospice programs, with exceptions for existing programs expanding or changing ownership, certain health and care facilities, and applicants serving underserved areas or groups. The authority may still issue licenses for a new service area, a change of ownership, services for patients or residents of an eligible provider or facility, or service to an underserved area or population. The restriction starts before the required rulemaking is complete and ends when that rulemaking is complete; the section is repealed on January 2, 2029.

The authority may require applicants to submit out-of-state performance records, and applicants operating hospice programs generally must submit the prior year's consumer survey results to federal officials. The rules cover hospice programs, owners with at least five percent ownership, administrators and medical directors applying for an initial or renewal license. An applicant is eligible only if it submitted the previous year's consumer assessment survey results to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, unless that agency granted an exemption. The performance history may include past licensing survey results from Oregon or other states. The survey condition applies when an applicant seeks an initial or renewal license and operates a hospice program in Oregon or another state.