Dickinson letter: Rural hospices need help

I wish to express my support of a new bill in Congress that is specifically important to our community. The Rural Access to Hospice Act helps address the needs of under-served rural and urban communities, specifically with regard to access to critically important end-of-life care. Rural health centers (RHCs) provide primary care in more than 4,000 communities across the country. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) promote primary care service delivery in under-served urban and rural communities.

Current law prevents RHCs and FQHCs from serving as attending physicians for hospice patients. So if a patient at an RHC chooses hospice, they have to give up their family doctor. This is a barrier to care, and puts an unnecessary burden on mostly rural hospice patients at an already difficult time. The Rural Access to Hospice Act would correct this problem and allow RHCs and FQHCs to act as attending physicians for their patients in hospice care.

I hope our community will rally around this important legislation, and stand up for quality end-of-life care for all Americans. You can help. Go to www.goHOSPICE.com/blog and click on the links to call and email your Congress.

This story was originally published September 27, 2017 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Dickinson letter: Rural hospices need help."