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Minutes for HB2548 - Committee on Health and Human Services
Short Title
Enacting the no patient left alone act to require facilities to allow in-person visitation to certain patients at hospitals, adult care homes and hospice facilities.
Minutes Content for Tue, Feb 6, 2024
Deann Feldt, Private Citizen, provided testimony in support of HB2548 (Attachment 1). Ms. Feldt's decades of experience in health care did not prepare her for her experiences since the pandemic. Families were unable to be with patients during end of life. Patients were dying alone with their families in the parking lot. People were attending concerts and athletic events but patients were dying alone. Hospitals were in uncharted territory and there was a lack of PPE. Conditions have improved but the problem still exist regarding visitation. Ms. Feldt supports the bill allowing hospitals to implement their own policies regarding visitation. Each facility knows its capabilities and deserves to have the power to best suit its community. An amendment was suggested.
Rachelle Colombo, Executive Director, Kansas Medical Society, provided testimony in support of HB2548 (Attachment 2). Organized medicine recognizes the importance of allowing dying patients the comfort of physical presences of loved ones during the transition to death. Studies show that patients who do not die alone experience less pain and utilize less anxiety medication at the end of life. While some instances do not allow visitation at the end of life to the extent that it does not jeopardize the health of others, Visitation should be accommodated. The bill represents a balance between the concerns of patients and their families, health care facilities and requirements for federal funding.
Kylee Child, Director of Government Affairs, LeadingAge Kansas, provided testimony in support of HB2548 (Attachment 3). The resident restrictions addressed in this bill were regulatory requirements from CMS. Nursing homes had to follow these restrictions strictly or possibly lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and lost Medicare and Medicaid funding. As visitation rules eased, nursing homes were reluctant to be as liberal due to the possibility of lawsuits, especially after the state of Kansas carved them out of liability protection. LeadingAge feels the bill outlines important visitation rights of patients while allowing providers to do what is necessary to preserve funding. This was a good compromise on both sides.
The following provided written only in support of the bill:
Amy Burr, Director, Meadowlark Hospice (Attachment 4)
