The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) asserts that clinicians have a responsibility and obligation to address hospice and palliative care public policy and regulatory issues that impact the health-related quality of life of patients and caregivers living with serious illness across the lifespan.
HPNA acts independently and with collaborating organizations to address hospice and palliative care issues at the national, state, local, and regional levels. HPNA currently serves on the board of the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care and regularly works with other national coalitions in a collaborative environment. The following statements serve as HPNA’s guiding principles.
View the Guiding Principles
State Ambassador Program
HPNA State Ambassadors are members with experience in hospice and palliative nursing who have the desire to learn about the policy-making process at the local, state, and federal levels. These individuals serve as a general resource for HPNA members regarding legislative and regulatory issues at the state level and provide information about state/regional policy issues on a quarterly basis. HPNA State Ambassadors also disseminate information about national policy issues as directed by HPNA and encourage HPNA nurses at the state and local levels to participate in HPNA public policy activities.
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Recent Activity
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Join HPNA in Urging Congress to Take Action on Telehealth Before Flexibilities Expire in December
Before adjourning until November, Congress passed a stopgap measure to fund the government at current levels until December 20. When they return after the election for a lame duck session, House and Senate leadership will need to prioritize passing a Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bill. With legislators are home in their districts over the next few months, it is the perfect time to let them know how important it is to fund priorities such as palliative care research in an appropriations bill but also to make sure any end-of-year package includes language to extend COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, including the option to conduct the hospice recertification face-to-face visit via telehealth, past the deadline of December 31. For more information, read the letter that HPNA and partner organizations sent to House and Senate leadership last week.
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Telehealth Modernization Act
On September 18, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 41-0 to pass H.R. 7623, the Telehealth Modernization Act. This bipartisan legislation would extend through 2026 certain flexibilities authorized during the public health emergency related to COVID-19, including the opportunity to use telehealth to conduct the required face-to-face (F2F) encounter under the Medicare hospice benefit. It also would allow rural health clinics and federal qualified health centers to serve as the distant site, the home of a beneficiary to serve as a distant site for all services, and all types of practitioners to furnish telehealth services, as determined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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HPNA Comments on the Passage of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.
HPNA recently sent a letter to Capitol Hill thanking Senate appropriators for including funding for palliative care research, nursing workforce, and other priorities in the Senate Fiscal Year 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.