1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health; modifying the residential hospice 
  1.3             program requirements; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             1998, section 144A.48, subdivision 1; repealing 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 144A.48, subdivision 
  1.6             6. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 144A.48, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For the purposes of this 
  1.11  section, the following terms have the meanings given to them: 
  1.12     (1) "Core services" means physician services, registered 
  1.13  nursing services, medical social services, pastoral care or 
  1.14  other counseling services, and volunteer services that are 
  1.15  provided either directly by the hospice program or through a 
  1.16  service contract or other arrangement; 
  1.17     (2) "Hospice patient" means an individual who has been 
  1.18  diagnosed as terminally ill with a probable life expectancy of 
  1.19  under one year, as documented by the individual's attending 
  1.20  physician, and who alone or, when unable, through the hospice 
  1.21  patient's family has voluntarily consented to and received 
  1.22  admission to a hospice program; 
  1.23     (3) "Hospice patient's family" means relatives of the 
  1.24  hospice patient, the hospice patient's guardian, primary 
  1.25  caregivers, or persons identified by the hospice patient as 
  1.26  having significant personal ties; 
  2.1      (4) "Hospice program" means palliative and supportive care 
  2.2   and other services provided by an interdisciplinary team under 
  2.3   the direction of an identifiable hospice administration to 
  2.4   terminally ill hospice patients and their families to meet the 
  2.5   physical, nutritional, emotional, social, spiritual, and special 
  2.6   needs experienced during the final stages of illness, dying, and 
  2.7   bereavement, through a centrally coordinated program that 
  2.8   ensures continuity and consistency of home and inpatient care 
  2.9   provided directly or through an agreement; 
  2.10     (5) "Interdisciplinary team" means a group of qualified 
  2.11  individuals with expertise in meeting the special needs of 
  2.12  hospice patients and their families, including, at a minimum, 
  2.13  those individuals who are providers of core services; 
  2.14     (6) "Palliative care" means care directed at managing the 
  2.15  symptoms experienced by the hospice patient and intended to 
  2.16  enhance the quality of life for the hospice patient and the 
  2.17  patient's family, but not directed at curing the illness; 
  2.18     (7) "Residential hospice facility" means a facility that 
  2.19  houses no more than ~~eight~~ 16 hospice patients, located in a 
  2.20  residential area in a facility that resembles a single-family 
  2.21  home, that directly provides 24-hour residential and support 
  2.22  services in a home-like setting for hospice patients as an 
  2.23  integral part of the continuum of home care provided by a 
  2.24  hospice licensed under subdivision 2; and 
  2.25     (8) "Volunteer services" means services by volunteers who 
  2.26  provide a personal presence that augments a variety of 
  2.27  professional and nonprofessional services available to the 
  2.28  hospice patient, the patient's family, and the hospice program.  
  2.29     Sec. 2.  [REPEALER.] 
  2.30     Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 144A.48, subdivision 6, is 
  2.31  repealed.