HF 933 (LSB 2677HV (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE 933

BY  COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 267)

(As Amended and Passed by the House 2025-03-25)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to pediatric palliative care centers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  SHORT TITLE.  This Act shall be known as “Mason’s Law”.
    Sec. 2.  Section 10A.713, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  r.  Pediatric palliative care centers as defined in section 135J.1.
    Sec. 3.  Section 135J.1, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  2A.  “DMEPOS” means the same as defined in 42 C.F.R. §424.57(a).
   NEW SUBSECTION.  2B.  “DMEPOS supplier” means the same as defined in 42 C.F.R. §424.57(a).
   NEW SUBSECTION.  8A.  a.  “Pediatric palliative care center” means a residential care facility as defined in section 135C.1, that only serves pediatric palliative care patients and that only provides respite care services as defined in section 135C.1, and hospice program services.
   b.  Notwithstanding section 135C.1, subsection 21, a pediatric palliative care center may provide care and services to individuals who require the services of a registered or licensed practical nurse on a nonemergency basis, and may provide accommodation, board, personal assistance, and other essential daily living activities to fewer than three individuals at any one time.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  8B.  “Pediatric palliative care patient” means an individual described by all of the following:
   a.  The individual is under twenty-one years of age.
   b.  The individual has been diagnosed with a chronic, complex, life-threatening illness that is expected to shorten the individual’s life expectancy.
   c.  The individual is not expected to survive past twenty-one years of age.
    Sec. 4.  Section 135J.1, subsection 6, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   6.  “Hospice program” means a centrally coordinated program of home and inpatient care provided directly or through an agreement under the direction of an identifiable hospice administration providing palliative care and supportive medical and other health services to terminally ill patients and their families. A licensed hospice program shall utilize a medically directed interdisciplinary team and provide care to meet the a unit of care’s physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and other special needs which are experienced during the final stages of illness, dying, and bereavement. Hospice care shall be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
    Sec. 5.  Section 135J.7, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   135J.7  Rules.
   Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A necessary to implement this chapter. Formulation of the rules shall include consultation The department shall consult with Iowa hospice organization representatives and other persons affected by this chapter. and the rules shall, at a minimum, provide for all of the following:
   1.  A pediatric palliative care center shall not serve more than twelve pediatric palliative care patients at any one time.
   2.  A pediatric palliative care center’s interdisciplinary team may include volunteers who provide a personal presence that augments other services available to a pediatric palliative care patient admitted to the pediatric palliative care center, the pediatric palliative care patient’s family, or the pediatric palliative care patient’s health care provider.
   3.  A pediatric palliative care center’s rooms may be used for respite care services, end-of-life care, or both.
   4.  A pediatric palliative care center shall have a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse onsite and available at all times a pediatric palliative care patient is at the pediatric palliative care center.
   5.  A pediatric palliative care center shall employ a medical director.
   6.  A pediatric palliative care center shall contract with a hospice program to assist in the provision of core services to pediatric palliative care patients.
   7.  A pediatric palliative care center shall include adequate space for the family of a pediatric palliative care patient to visit the pediatric palliative care patient, cook for and eat with the pediatric palliative care patient, and stay overnight with the pediatric palliative care patient while the pediatric palliative care patient is at the pediatric palliative care center.
   8.  A pediatric palliative care center shall not be required to provide a pediatric palliative care patient with items for the pediatric palliative care patient’s health, safety, or daily living needs, including but not limited to durable medical equipment and medications, provided that, consistent with the pediatric palliative care patient’s interdisciplinary team’s plan of care for the pediatric palliative care patient and the pediatric palliative care patient’s family, the items are provided by any of the following:
   a.  The pediatric palliative care patient.
   b.  The pediatric palliative care patient’s family.
   c.  A hospice program contracted with the pediatric palliative care center to provide such items.
   d.  A DMEPOS supplier.
   9.  Any medication brought by a pediatric palliative care patient to a pediatric palliative care center as a part of the pediatric palliative care patient’s medical care plan shall be documented by the pediatric palliative care center, stored in a secure space, administered by the pediatric palliative care center’s staff as directed in the pediatric palliative care patient’s medical care plan, and returned to the pediatric palliative care patient upon the pediatric palliative care patient’s departure, or properly disposed of upon the pediatric palliative care patient’s death.
   10.  A pediatric palliative care center shall be eligible for funding available to other licensed residential care facilities and hospice programs that treat individuals with an illness or disability, including but not limited to funding from the federal social services block grant, the state supplementary assistance program, the hospice respite benefit, home and community-based services waivers, any funding source under chapter 249A, and any benefit a nursing facility under chapter 135C may be eligible for related to respite care services.