Sponsor Statement for HB 152

House Bill 152 will provide for licensing of hospice care programs in Alaska, ensuring that terminally ill persons receive comfort, support, and care consistent with hospice philosophy and concepts through a uniform level of services. There is no federal regulation or licensing requirements for hospice programs. As of the January 1997, forty (40) states are licensing or regulating hospice programs. Of the ten (10) states without hospice licensing, five (5) have laws or regulations pending. The licensing of hospice programs in Alaska will assure consumers of consistent standards in the delivery of hospice services.

Hospice is a unique component of the health care delivery system, one that has evolved over the past 20 years in the United States. Hospice provides care and support for people with terminal illness. The goal of hospice care is to enable patients to live an alert, pain-free life and to manage symptoms so the last weeks and months of life may be spent in dignity and peace. One out of every three people who die of cancer or AIDS in this country are served by a hospice program.

Annual growth in hospice programs averaged about eight per cent (8%) in the early '90s. In the last five (5) years growth has averaged seventeen per cent (17%). Hospice services are provided through a variety of means, including independent community-based organizations, divisions of hospitals or home-health services, and government agencies. Rapid growth of hospice programs is due to increased demand for home care services, the desire of terminally ill persons to keep control over the remainder of their lives, and a trend towards reimbursement for home-care services. Consumers need to be aware of specific characteristics that differentiate hospice from other health care providers. Hospice offers comfort and care, not curative treatment. Hospice addresses emotional, spiritual, and social needs in addition to physical needs. Hospice considers the patient and loved ones as the unit of care. Hospice affirms life and regards dying as a normal process, seeking neither to hasten nor postpone death. Hospice care extends beyond a patient's death to include bereavement care for grieving family members.

Fear of painful suffering, of abandonment, and of losing control are primary concerns of people experiencing terminal illness. Hospice care is designed to address these concerns by providing support, care, and needed services to help the terminally ill live their lives in maximal comfort and control.

Passage of House Bill 152 will standardize hospice care guarantee the Alaskan public the opportunity to access quality hospice care.