[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 119 (Thursday, September 13, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S9397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN:
  S. 1425. A bill to establish hospice demonstration projects and a 
hospice grant program for beneficiaries under the medicare program 
under title XVIII of the Social Security Act, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Medicare Hospice 
Improvement Program Act, which is supported by the National Hospice and 
Palliative Care Organization. The purpose of this bill is to provide 
for at least three demonstration projects within Medicare to improve 
the delivery of the hospice benefit to seniors. This legislation would 
allow us to find new ways to: (1) Allow people to enroll in hospice 
even though they may want to continue trying curative treatment for a 
limited time; (2) modify the requirements to decrease the strain on 
rural hospice providers; and (3) revise reimbursement rates to more 
adequately cover comfort care. In addition this bill would provide a 
grant program to help defray the costs of providing education of the 
public, the medical community and patients about hospice care.
  The Medicare hospice benefit has not been revised since it was first 
created nearly two decades ago. Too often patients and their families 
are unaware of the Medicare hospice benefit or they seek hospice care 
too late to get the full benefit of hospice services. This legislation 
is important because it would help us find ways to assure that the 
Medicare hospice benefit is better integrated into medical care, as 
well as improve patient access to the pain and symptom management, 
counseling, and other comfort care services provided by hospice.

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