Eight new hospice programs could be coming to Florida. That is twice as many as state regulators proposed earlier this year.
On Monday, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration gave tentative approval for hospice programs in seven counties including Duval, Pinellas, Manatee, Brevard, Lee, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Broward, Lee and Manatee counties had been left off the list in an earlier proposal.
Miami-Dade County has received the green light for two new hospice programs; the other counties have all been OK’d for one. Ten applications from various agencies in those counties were denied.
Florida health care regulators acknowledged last winter that the state needed more hospice programs by July 2022 to care for people with terminal illnesses.
The decisions by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration are not final. Under state regulations, healthcare providers have 21 days after the state publishes the decision to file challenges in state administrative court. Providers can challenge agency decisions to deny their applications or decisions to approve a competitor’s application.
