(a) To qualify for a license under this chapter, an applicant shall satisfy all of the following:

(1) Be of good moral character. If the applicant is a franchise, franchisee, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, company, political subdivision of the state, or governmental agency, the person in charge of the hospice for which the application for a license is made shall be of good moral character.

(2) Demonstrate the ability of the applicant to comply with this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter by the state department.

(3) File a completed application with the state department that was prescribed and furnished pursuant to Section 1748.

(b) In order for a person, political subdivision of the state, or other governmental agency to be licensed as a hospice it shall satisfy the definition of a hospice contained in Section 1746, and also provide, or make provision for, the following basic services:

(1) Skilled nursing services.

(2) Social services/counseling services.

(3) Medical direction.

(4) Bereavement services.

(5) Volunteer services.

(6) Inpatient care arrangements.

(7) Home health aide services.

(c) The services required to be provided pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be provided in compliance with the “Standards for Quality Hospice Care, 2003,” as available from the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, until the state department adopts regulations establishing alternative standards pursuant to subdivision (e).

(d) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, to meet the unique needs of the community, licensed hospices may provide, in addition to hospice services authorized in this chapter, any of the following preliminary services for any person in need of those services, as determined by the physician and surgeon, if any, in charge of the care of a patient, or at the request of the patient or family:

(A) Preliminary palliative care consultations.

(B) Preliminary counseling and care planning.

(C) Preliminary grief and bereavement services.

(2) Preliminary services authorized pursuant to this subdivision may be provided concurrently with curative treatment to a person who does not have a terminal prognosis or who has not elected to receive hospice services only by licensed and certified hospices. These services shall be subject to the schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program, pursuant to subdivision (w) of Section 14132 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(e) The state department may adopt regulations establishing standards for any or all of the services required to be provided under subdivision (b). The regulations of the state department adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall supersede the standards referenced in subdivision (c) to the extent the regulations duplicate or replace those standards.

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 825, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2005.)