Family Caregivers Show Support for Pennsylvania State Assistance at State Capitol

If you have worked in Elder Law long enough, you have probably received a panicked call from a family caregiver who is unprepared for a loved one to be discharged on short notice from hospital care.

On September 22, the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg was crowded with individuals wearing coordinated colors, showing their support for Pennsylvania Caregivers, including family members who are often struggling with financial and practical challenges in caring for frail elders. Here’s a link to a CBS-21-TV news report, with eloquent remarks from Tamesha Keel (also pictured left), who has first-hand experience as a stay-at-home caregiver for her own aging mother.  Tamesha recently joined our law school as Director of Career Services.

AARP helped to rally support for House Bill 1329, the Pennsylvania CARE Act.  The acronym, coined as part of a national campaign by AARP to assist family caregivers, stands for Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable Act.  HB 1329  passed the Pennsylvania House in July 2015 and is now pending in the Pennsylvania Senate.

We have written on this Blog before about pending CARE legislation in other states.  A central AARP-supported goal is to achieve better coordination of aftercare, starting with identification of patient-chosen caregivers who should receive notice in advance of any discharge of the patient from the hospital.  Pennsylvania’s version of the CARE Act would require hospitals to give both notice and training, either in person or by video, to such caregivers about how to provide appropriate post-discharge care in the home. 

I’d actually like to see a bit more in Pennsylvania. It is unfortunate that the Pennsylvania CARE Act, at least in its current iteration (Printer’s Number 1883), does not go further by requiring written notice, delivered at least a minimum number of hours in advance of the actual discharge. AARP’s own model act suggests a minimum of 4 hours, consistent with Medicare rules.

Under Federal Law, Medicare-participating hospitals must deliver advance written notice of a discharge plan, and such notice must explain the patient’s rights to appeal an inadequate plan or premature discharge. A timely appeal puts a temporary hold on the discharge. See the Center for Medicare Advocacy’s (CMA) summary of key provisions of Medicare law on hospital discharges, applicable even if a patient at the Medicare-certified hospital isn’t a Medicare-patient. CMA’s outline also suggests some weaknesses of the Medicare notice requirement.

AARP’s original CARE Act proposals are important and evidence-based, seeking to improve the patient’s prospects for post-hospitalization care through better advance planning. At the same time, there’s some irony for me in reading the Pennsylvania legislature’s required “fiscal impact” report on HR 1329, as it reports a “0” dollar impact.  That may be true from the Pennsylvania government’s cost perspective, but for the hospitals, to do it right, whether in person or by video, training is unlikely to be revenue neutral.  I think we need to talk openly about the costs of providing effective education or training to home caregivers.

If passed by the Senate, Pennsylvania’s CARE Act would be not become effective for another 12 months.  The bill further provides for evaluation of the effectiveness of the rules on patient outcomes.   

As is so often true, states are constantly juggling the need for reforms to solve identified problems, with the costs of such reforms.  Perhaps the current version of the Pennsylvania bill reflects some compromises among stakeholders. According to this press statement, the Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania supports the current version of AARP’s Pennsylvania CARE Act.