Proposed Legislation Threatens to Limit Service for Terminally Ill
                             Children and Adults

    BALTIMORE, March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- A bill pending in the Maryland General
Assembly would severely disrupt hospice care for terminally ill children and
adults by prohibiting a non-profit hospice provider from continuing to offer
care to all patients in Maryland.
    Senate Bill (SB) 732, which passed the state Senate last week, would force
Maryland Community Hospice to dismantle most of its hospice service network.
That would cut the number of hospice providers in many counties throughout
Maryland, and would reduce choice and access to care for Marylanders.
    The bill is scheduled for a hearing Monday (March 31) before the House
Health and Government Operations Committee.
    The bill targets Maryland Community Hospice by retroactively overturning a
November 2001 determination by the Maryland Health Care Commission that
Maryland Community Hospice is authorized to provide hospice services
throughout the state. The legislation sets a dangerous precedent by
undermining the authority of the Commission to make decisions affecting the
health care of Marylanders.
    This bill will aggravate an already steep decline in hospice programs in
Maryland. According to the Commission, between 1991 and 2000, there was an
11.6% reduction in the number of hospices in Maryland.
    "There is a significant unmet need for hospice care in Maryland," said Jim
Elmslie, president of Maryland Community Hospice and a Howard County resident.
"This bill would exacerbate the problem by reducing access to hospice care and
choice for Marylanders."
    "The proponents of this bill want to eliminate competition for
county-specific hospice providers," Elmslie said. "Maryland Community Hospice
has been providing high-quality, comprehensive care to Marylanders, including
more than $2.3 million in free care in the last 15 months, without any
negative impact on any other Maryland hospice. This short-sighted legislation
will impede the growth of hospice care at a time when Maryland's terminally
ill children and adults desperately need it."
    The hospice program that Maryland Community Hospice took over in December
2001 has been serving Marylanders for more than 20 years.  In many underserved
communities, Maryland Community Hospice is one of the few providers of hospice
care.
    Maryland Community Hospice currently provides care in Baltimore City and
the following counties: Baltimore, Harford, Cecil, Howard, Anne Arundel,
Carroll, Prince George's, Montgomery, Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's.
    "This bill will have a devastating impact on the availability of
comprehensive hospice services for Maryland's terminally ill patients --
adults and children alike -- and their families," said Dr. Matt Kestenbaum,
medical director for Maryland Community Hospice and a Montgomery County
resident. "Removing a hospice program is not an answer for improving hospice
access."
    Maryland Community Hospice is one of the only hospice providers caring for
children under age 13. Unlike many other hospices, it employs nurses who are
specially trained in pediatric hospice care. In addition, Maryland Community
Hospice is the only preferred provider chosen by Johns Hopkins Home Care Group
to provide pediatric and adult hospice services for Johns Hopkins' patients.
Maryland Community Hospice is also the only preferred provider for MedStar
Health hospice patients.
    Maryland Community Hospice is the Maryland arm of The Washington Home and
Community Hospices, a nonprofit charity which has been serving terminally ill
and other patients for 115 years.

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