A bill prohibiting the establishment of new for-profit hospices in New York state has passed both legislative houses. 

The bill (S3437 Krueger/ A565 Paulin) has been kicking around the Legislature for three years. In 2022, it passed both houses of the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. In 2023 and 2024, the bill was only passed by the Senate. 

In her 2022 veto message, Hochul stated she wanted the stakeholders in the state’s Master Plan for the Aging to weigh in on the issue. 

According to Jeanne Chirico, executive director of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York, those conversations have taken place, giving her hope that the governor will sign the bill this time around. 

“A recommendation was put forth through the Master Plan [for] Aging that’s requested additional guardrails on our Certificate of Need process,” she said.

New York's Certificate of Need (CON) process governs the establishment of new health care providers, including hospice. 

There is tremendous evidence showing for-profit hospices do not provide the same quality of care as not-for-profit hospices do.

Both the Rand Corporation and the federal government have released reports critical of for-profit hospice care. A 2023 investigation by Pro Publica underscored the issue; and the Journal of the American Medical Association did, as well.

The issue is that, unlike other health care providers, hospices aren’t paid per service. Instead, they’re paid per patient, per day, regardless of the care they need. That model can lead some patients -- patients who are already dying -- to have their needs ignored by unscrupulous providers. 

Not all for-profit hospices are bad actors, but recently many for-profit hospices have been bought up by investors and private equity firms with the goal of generating profits.

“The reality is, unless a state takes a concerted action to prevent these unscrupulous actors from entering [the market] incredible damage can be done,” Chirico continued.