<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
<item congress="116" measure-type="s" measure-number="2807" measure-id="id116s2807" originChamber="SENATE" orig-publish-date="2019-11-07" update-date="2020-10-17">
<title>Hospice Care Improvement Act of 2019</title>
<summary summary-id="id116s2807v00" currentChamber="SENATE" update-date="2020-10-17">
<action-date>2019-11-07</action-date>
<action-desc>Introduced in Senate</action-desc>
<summary-text><![CDATA[<p><b>Hospice Care Improvement Act of 2019</b></p> <p>This bill establishes survey requirements for, and enforcement mechanisms against, certified hospice programs under Medicare.</p> <p>Specifically, certified programs must undergo periodic surveys by a state, local, or approved accreditation agency, as specified; the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) must provide joint training for surveyors and programs, and must publish information relating to survey results on the Hospice Compare website. Surveyors must provide programs with educational materials to help them correct any found deficiencies. If the CMS finds that a program does not meet applicable standards, the CMS may impose intermediate sanctions, including suspended Medicare payments, temporary management, and additional training; such programs must also undergo more frequent surveys until they are found to be in compliance.</p>]]></summary-text>
</summary>
</item>
<dublinCore xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
<dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>
<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
<dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
<dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
</dublinCore>
</BillSummaries>
