PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Medicaid Purchasing Administration)
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Chapter 388-551 WAC, Subchapter I - Hospice services, and possibly other related WAC sections.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 74.08.090, 74.09.520, Section 2302 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-148), and Section 1814 (a)(7) of the Social Security Act.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: In accordance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-148), these rule changes are necessary to: (1) Establish that a family electing to receive hospice care for an individual under twenty-one years of age is no longer required to waive treatment for the terminal illness; and (2) require that a hospice physician or nurse practitioner must have a face-to-face encounter with every hospice patient to determine the continued eligibility of that patient prior to the one hundred eighty day recertification, and prior to each subsequent recertification and also attest that the visit took place.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: The department is coordinating the rule development with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and aging and adult services administration.
Process for Developing New Rule: DSHS welcomes the public to take part in developing the rules. Anyone interested should contact the staff person identified below. At a later date, DSHS will file a proposal with the office of the code reviser with a notice of proposed rule making. A copy of the proposal will be sent to everyone on the mailing list and to anyone who requests a copy.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Wendy L. Boedigheimer, Rules Program Manager, P.O. Box 45504, Olympia, WA 98504-5504, phone (360) 725-1306, fax (360) 586-9727, TTY (800) 848-5429, e-mail boediwl@dshs.wa.gov.
March 22, 2011
Katherine I. Vasquez
Rules Coordinator