Pennsylvania's Efforts to Increase Hospice and Palliative Care for Children

A follow-up to an item we posted Jan. 14, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on a Pennsylvania task force that is examining ways to eliminate barriers to children receiving hospice and palliative care. From the article:

"Some of the goals the task force is considering would require legislation or the redrafting of state regulations.

For instance, federal regulations now permit reimbursement for hospice care only if a child is given six months or less to live, and if the family forgoes any further intervention. Many private insurers follow the federal model.

And that, hospice advocates say, puts families in the position of making the choice between hospice and painful, and possibly fruitless, hospital treatments.

Some states, such as Colorado and Florida, allow children to receive hospice and palliative care simultaneously with traditional medical treatments.

That is not the case in Pennsylvania, and the task force is examining what it can do to change that."