Sponsors (4)
The bill seeks to improve access to and standardization of advance directives through a National Academies study and potential centralization, trading better care coordination and policy guidance against elevated privacy risks, implementation complexity, and possible taxpayer costs.
Patients (including those with chronic conditions) and their authorized agents will have a single, secure place to store and retrieve advance directives and powers of attorney, improving timely access to end‑of‑life wishes and supporting faster clinical decision‑making.
Hospitals, health systems, and state governments will receive an independent National Academies study (with 2‑ and 4‑year reports) that can standardize definitions, identify best practices for handling advance directives, and provide a timeline to guide federal and state policy development.
People with disabilities, seniors, and others whose sensitive medical and legal documents would be stored face increased privacy and data‑security risks from creating a national repository.
Taxpayers could incur ongoing operating and administrative costs if the study leads to implementing and maintaining a national system for advance directives and powers of attorney.
State governments and hospitals may confront legal and administrative complexity because centralizing access could clash with state law variations and complicate authorization processes for advance directives and powers of attorney.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs HHS to commission the National Academies to study creating a free national secure system to store and allow authorized retrieval of advance directives and related "last wish" documents, with reports due in 2 and 4 years.
Requires the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to arrange for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study the feasibility of creating and running a national, confidential, secure system to store individuals' "last wish" documents and allow authorized agents to retrieve them at no cost to individuals. The National Academies must provide a status report to the Secretary and Congress within 2 years of enactment and submit the final study to the Secretary and Congress within 4 years of enactment. "Last wish" documents are defined to include advance directives, organ donor registrations, healthcare/medical proxies, powers of attorney, and living wills.
Introduced October 28, 2025 by Thomas Suozzi · Last progress October 28, 2025