2182

JOINT RESOLUTIONS

WHEREAS, The present situation in Maryland is that
insurance companies and the Maryland Medical Assistance
Program do not currently recognize a hospice as a separate
category of provider; and

WHEREAS, Availability of hospice programs in Maryland
depends in large measure on reimbursement of such services
as home care and bereavement counseling to the patient's
family; and

WHEREAS, This issue is of utmost importance to the
citizens of Maryland; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That a
Hospice Reimbursement Study Commission be established
consisting of 13 members; two members of the Senate, to be
appointed by the President; two members of the House of
Delegates, to be appointed by the Speaker; nine members to
be jointly appointed by the President and Speaker as
follows: one from the Statewide Health Coordinating
Council, one from the Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene, one from the Maryland Hospital Association, one
from the Maryland Nurses Association, one from the Medical
and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, one from a nonprofit
service plan, one from the Health Insurance Association of
America, one from the nursing home industry, and two from
the general public; and the chairman to be appointed jointly
by the President and the Speaker from among the public
members; and be it further

RESOLVED, That staff assistance and budget be provided
by the Maryland Statewide Health Planning and Development
Agency; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Commission should determine what
types of hospice care is now available in the State, what
type of necessary services are not presently available, what
type of services would be beneficial to the terminally ill
and their families, and how the insurance industry and the
Maryland Medical Assistance Program can be organized to
provide these forms of coverage; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Commission should make its report
and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than
November 1, 1980.

Signed May 1, 1979.

No. 30
(House Joint Resolution No. 40)