S. 5219 — Compassionate Care Act

This section expresses the sense of the Senate that advance care planning should occur with the patient and the patient’s health care agent, primary clinician, other authorized decisionmaker, or interdisciplinary team; be recorded and updated as needed; and allow flexible decisionmaking in accordance with best practice guidelines issued by the Secretary.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the CDC Director, to develop and implement by January 1, 2026, a national public education campaign on advance care planning that uses various media, provides culturally and linguistically appropriate information continuously for at least 5 years, promotes specified HHS websites, addresses discussions with family members and providers about advance directives and end-of-life options, and raises awareness of hospice and palliative care. It requires a report to Congress by July 1, 2028, on the campaign’s effectiveness, authorizes necessary appropriations, and repeals Section 4751(d) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990.

This section directs the Secretary, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to establish by January 1, 2027, an internet website for providers under Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, the Indian Health Service, and other qualified providers serving older individuals. The site must be maintained ongoing and provide tools on advance directive requirements, quality improvement activities, electronic health record integration, patient materials, continuing education, discussions with patients of all ages, end-of-life care services, and best practices for serious diagnoses.

This section establishes a pilot grant program under which the Secretary awards funds to eligible entities—including schools of medicine, osteopathic medicine, nursing, social work, physician assistant programs, and accredited graduate medical education programs—to incorporate end-of-life training requirements into their curricula. Eligible entities must maintain faculty experienced in palliative medicine, offer rotations across hospice, home health, and related settings, develop competency measures, and complete faculty retraining in hospice and palliative medicine within two years; recipients report outcomes within 18 months, after which the Secretary reports to Congress.

This section requires the development of patient-oriented end-of-life care quality measures for each relevant health care provider setting, selected for greatest positive impact in consultation with providers, patients, and private organizations. It directs dissemination of related reporting requirements by January 1, 2026, followed by a 60-day public comment period, with initial provider reporting beginning January 1, 2028, and requires inclusion of demographic data on race, ethnicity, age, and gender while accounting for administrative burden.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to develop or enhance curricula on advance care planning and end-of-life care by January 1, 2026, for states to adopt in continuing education for qualified health care providers. The curricula must address the meaning and importance of advance care planning, living wills and durable powers of attorney, orders for scope of treatment, counseling skills, palliative care principles, the continuum of end-of-life services including hospice, and the benefits of introducing such care early in illness.

This section makes permanent the authorization for a physician or other practitioner to use telehealth to conduct the face-to-face encounter required before recertifying a Medicare beneficiary’s eligibility for hospice care. The authority applies during and after the COVID-19 emergency period described in section 1135(g)(1)(B) (previously limited to that period ending March 31, 2025).

This section removes geographic requirements for Medicare telehealth coverage of advance care planning services furnished on or after January 1, 2026.