Blumenthal & Barragán Introduce Bicameral Legislation To Improve End of Life Care

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Nanette Barragán (D-CA) introduced the Compassionate Care Act , legislation to promote advance care planning and end-of-life care through physician education and public awareness campaigns. The Compassionate Care Act provides critical resources to educate patients and providers, develops core end-of-life quality measures, and expands access to advance care planning via telehealth—helping patients access the care they need and that is right for them. “Every person deserves to have their wishes respected when facing serious illness or the need for end-of-life care,” Blumenthal said. “The Compassionate Care Act will help patients plan ahead, empower families and providers to have important conversations, and ensure that people’s care preferences are known and honored.” “Only 5% of Americans have an advance care plan for their future medical care preferences, and many are unsure how to begin these important conversations with their health care providers,” said Barragán. “Senator Blumenthal and I are reintroducing the Compassionate Care Act to establish clear guidelines, improve physician education, increase public awareness, and expand access—including through telehealth services— to advance care planning. More Americans should feel empowered to take control of their end-of-life care.” The legislation is cosponsored in the U.S. Senate by U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA). The Compassionate Care Act is endorsed by a number of organizations, including Compassion & Choices, Coalition to Transform Advanced Care, and the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). “The nation must improve our advance care planning policies so that doctors and families are not put in the deeply disturbing position of having to make life-altering care decisions without knowing the patient’s wishes,” said Kevin Díaz, president and CEO of Compassion & Choices . “We will work with Senator Blumenthal to secure congressional support to pass this critical legislation, which would increase the likelihood that patient-directed care is both the expectation and the norm.” “The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care is pleased to support Senator Blumenthal’s reintroduction of the Compassionate Care Act. In C-TAC's 15th year, the senator’s leadership continues to draw attention to issues of great importance to individuals with serious illness,” said Tom Koutsoumpas, Co-Founder & Co-Chair of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care. “This legislation includes critical improvements for advance care planning (ACP), makes permanent telehealth provisions for hospice recertification and ACP at home and by audio only, and supports much needed provider and public education that will help ensure that patients’ care preferences are understood, recorded, and followed.” “Advance care planning is one of the most important conversations we can have about our healthcare, yet too many Americans reach a moment of crisis without having had that conversation at all. The Compassionate Care Act would help change that by giving patients, families, and healthcare providers better tools to talk about what matters most before difficult decisions have to be made. When people understand their choices and their wishes are known, we see better transitions of care, fewer unwanted interventions, and a better experience for patients and families throughout serious illness and at the end of life. This legislation moves us toward a healthcare system where every person’s voice, values, and choices are heard and respected. NPHI looks forward to working with Senator Blumenthal, Senator Schiff, and stakeholders across the healthcare community to advance this important legislation and ensure more Americans have the opportunity to make informed decisions about the care they want and deserve,” said Tom Koutsoumpas, NPHI Founder & CEO Among other provisions, the Compassionate Care Act would: Establish guidelines for advance care planning between health providers and patients; Launch a National Public Awareness Campaign that would encourage patients and providers to make end-of-life plans; Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop education resources for providers to engage with patients, work with providers, state boards of medicine, and clinical associations to develop advance care education resources and solicit feedback from providers and develop quality measures; Improve access to advance care planning by expanding telehealth options for providers and patients; and, Facilitate a study on a national advanced care planning registry that would allow patients to transfer their advanced directives from state to state. The full text of the legislation is available here . A one-page summary is available here . -30-