H.R. 10013: Compassionate Care Act

This bill would create a federal program aimed at making end-of-life planning and care more common, easier to understand, and more accessible. It focuses on helping people document their wishes for medical care in advance, especially if they later cannot speak for themselves.

What the bill says about advance care planning

The bill defines advance care planning as discussions and documentation about a person’s medical preferences if they become unable to make decisions. It also defines related terms such as advance directives, living wills, health care powers of attorney, health care agents, and orders for life-sustaining treatment.

It says advance care planning should, when practical:

• involve the patient and their health care agent, primary clinician, or other decisionmakers;
• be written down and updated as needed; and
• allow flexible decision-making based on the patient’s medical situation.

Public education campaign

The bill would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to launch a national public education campaign about advance care planning by January 1, 2027. The campaign would run for at least five years and use multiple forms of media, including social media and TV public service announcements.

The campaign would be required to:

• provide culturally and linguistically appropriate information;
• encourage people to talk with family members, health care proxies, and providers;
• explain how people can communicate their wishes through documents like living wills and powers of attorney;
• increase awareness of hospice and palliative care;
• promote the use of reliable government websites for information; and
• be based on evidence about effective communication.

The Secretary of HHS would also have to report to Congress on the campaign’s effectiveness by July 1, 2029.

Provider education and training

The bill would create a federal website for health care providers, hospice-related staff, and others to provide information about advance directives, end-of-life care, and related laws. The site would include tools and resources to help providers:

• understand state and federal rules;
• integrate advance care planning documents into electronic health records;
• create patient education materials;
• meet continuing education requirements; and
• better discuss end-of-life care, palliative care, and hospice with patients.

It would also establish a grant pilot program for medical, nursing, social work, physician assistant, and related training programs to add or strengthen end-of-life care training. That training would cover topics like communicating with patients and families, legal and medical issues, cultural and language competency, pediatric care where relevant, and the hospice/palliative care continuum.

Recipients of grants would have to report on outcomes, and HHS would later compile those results for Congress.

Quality measures and continuing education

The bill would require development of quality measures for end-of-life care in relevant health care settings. These measures would be designed to evaluate care quality, account for patient demographics, and keep reporting burdens manageable. Providers would begin initial reporting by January 1, 2029.

It would also require HHS to develop or improve continuing education curricula on advance care planning and end-of-life care that states could adopt for qualified health care providers.

Medicare telehealth changes

The bill would make permanent a Medicare telehealth allowance that lets hospice providers use telehealth for a required face-to-face encounter before recertifying hospice eligibility.

It would also remove geographic restrictions for telehealth services used to provide advance care planning starting January 1, 2027. In other words, those services could be delivered by telehealth without the usual location-based limits.

Studies and reports

The bill would require several federal studies on ways to improve advance directives and related systems, including:

• barriers to creating a national uniform policy on advance directives;
• the feasibility of a national registry for advance directives;
• how electronic health record systems could better store and share advance care planning documents;
• standards for digital signatures, electronic witnessing, and electronic notarization of advance directives; and
• whether people receive medical services they did not want, even when paid for by the federal government or the patient.

Relevant Companies

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