Jimmy Panetta: “I thank Chairman Larson, and I appreciate all of his work and, of course, his support and friendship. Madam Speaker, I…”

“I thank Chairman Larson, and I appreciate all of his work and, of course, his support and friendship. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2477, the BENES Act, which includes my bill and Tom Reed's bill, the bipartisan HOSPICE Act. Now, I think we can all agree that every family wants to ensure that their loved one in hospice receives the end-of-life care that is compassionate, that is cautious, and, of course, that is circumspect so that they can pass with dignity and all of us are at peace. Now, we know while most of our Nation's Medicare hospice care providers work tirelessly to ensure their patients receive high quality care, there are, unfortunately, bad actors. That is why we introduced the bipartisan HOSPICE Act, so that through education, outreach, and even liability we can safeguard care for Medicare hospice enrollees, increase transparency and safety, and penalize those who fail to provide the necessary care for their patients. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation to ensure that hospice care is not just about death, but it is about death with dignity, integrity, and accountability.”