ARTICLE 10.5. Special Hospital: Hospice [1339.30. - 1339.36.]

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC 10.5.

in effect

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 1339.30. Section 1339.30.

A Special Hospital: Hospice Pilot Project is hereby created. This pilot project shall be established and administered by the department, and shall consist of up to three pilot projects, one of which shall be located in San Diego. The department shall license facilities that are part of the pilot project for the duration of the pilot project as a special hospital: hospice. No person or entity shall be licensed as a special hospital: hospice unless that person or entity is participating in this pilot project. The purpose of the pilot project is to determine the need of hospice patients for acute inpatient hospital care. This article shall not preclude the provision of appropriate hospice services in other settings. The pilot project does not constitute an approved project as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 128130.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 1339.31. Section 1339.31.

For the purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply: (a) “Hospice” means a specialized form of multidisciplinary health care which is designed to provide palliative care, alleviate the physical, emotional, social and spiritual discomforts of an individual who is experiencing the last phases of life due to the existence of a terminal disease, and to provide supportive care for the primary care giver and the family of the hospice patient, and which meets all of the following criteria: (1) Considers the patient and the patient’s family, in addition to the patient, as the unit of care. (2) Utilizes a multidisciplinary team to assess the physical, medical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of the patient and the patient’s family. (3) Requires the multidisciplinary team to develop an overall plan of care and to provide coordinated care, which emphasizes supportive services such as home care, pain control, and limited inpatient services. Limited inpatient services are intended to ensure both continuity of care and appropriateness of services for those patients who cannot be managed at home because of acute complications or the temporary absence of a capable primary care giver. (4) Provides for the palliative medical treatment of pain and symptoms associated with a terminal illness but does not provide for efforts to cure disease. (5) Provides for bereavement following death to assist the family to cope with social and emotional needs associated with the death of the patient. (6) Actively utilizes volunteers in the delivery of hospice services. (7) To the extent appropriate, based on the medical needs of the patient, provides services in the patient’s home or primary place of residence. (b) “Palliative care” means interventions that focus primarily on reduction or abatement of pain and other disease-related symptoms, rather than treatment aimed at investigation and intervention for the purpose of cure or prolongation of life. (c) “Primary care giver” means the individual who is identified as the primary person charged with responsibility for the care of the hospice patient who agrees to accept that responsibility. The individual designated may be a family member, a friend or an individual hired by the hospice patient but shall be an individual who is actually available to provide 24-hour coverage for care of the hospice patient. However, it shall not be necessary that the individual reside in the hospice patient’s home. (d) “Primary place of residence” means the patient’s long-term residence and includes the patient’s home, a friend’s home, a congregate living health facility, a hospice residential care facility, or a skilled nursing facility if the patient resides there on a permanent full-time basis. (e) “Special hospital: hospice” means a health facility which is a component part of a hospice, as defined in subdivision (a), and which provides general inpatient care, as defined in federal Medicare program regulations adopted pursuant to Section 1861(dd)(2) and Section 1814(a)(7) of the federal Social Security Act. (f) “Terminal illness” means a medical condition resulting in a life expectancy of the patient of six months, or less.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 1339.32. Section 1339.32.

A special hospital: hospice shall be deemed to provide acute palliative care. All patients receiving inpatient care in a Special Hospital: Hospice Project shall be admitted by, and under the supervision of, a physician member of the organized medical staff.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 1339.33. Section 1339.33.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, in order to be licensed as a special hospital: hospice, each project facility shall meet the requirements of Sections 70101 to 70137, inclusive, 70201 to 70219, inclusive, 70241 to 70279, inclusive, 70701 to 70707, inclusive, and 70708 to 70765, inclusive, of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations; Sections 2-1001A to 2-1015A, inclusive, Section 2-1018A, Sections 2-1020A to 2-1024A, inclusive, Sections 2-1026A to 2-1028A, inclusive, Section 2-1040A, Section 2-1044A, and Section 2-1051A of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations. In addition to complying with these regulations in Titles 22 and 24 of the California Code of Regulations, each facility shall meet, for the duration of the project, the hospice standards used by the Medicare program (42 C.F.R., Part 418, Sections 418.1 to 418.405, inclusive) the Medi-Cal program (subdivision (e) of Sections 51003 to 51543, inclusive, of Title 22, California Code of Regulations), and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ “Hospice Standards Manual.” Each facility licensed as a special hospital: hospice shall maintain a transfer agreement with a general acute care hospital.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 1339.34. Section 1339.34.

(a) Each facility that is part of the project shall report to the Legislature at the end of each year of operation on all of the following factors: (1) Acuity levels of patients using the project facilities; relative cost-effectiveness of these facilities. (2) Quality of care in the facilities. (3) Utilization of the facilities. (4) Staffing requirements of the facilities. (b) Reports shall be submitted to the Legislature no later than three months after the close of the 12-month period for which the report is made. However, the Legislature may approve requests to extend this deadline that are submitted no later than 30 days prior to the deadline and that state the reason for the delay and corrective measures that have been taken to avoid future delays. No report deadline will be extended for more than three months beyond the original report date.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 1339.35. Section 1339.35.

The project shall commence on January 1, 1990. However, the State Department of Health Services may establish an earlier commencement date for any one of the facilities if that facility has been licensed as a special hospital: hospice prior to January 1, 1990.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 1339.36. Section 1339.36.

The fee for each new or renewal application for a license for a Special Hospital: Hospice Pilot Project facility shall be the annual fee as set forth for general acute care hospitals in subdivision (a) of Section 1266. If the annual fees do not cover the necessary costs which the Division of Licensure and Certification expends to manage this pilot project, the facilities shall be assessed an annual pro rata share of the excess costs.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026