Sponsors (10)
The bill channels federal funding into training, outreach, and research to expand and improve palliative and hospice care—likely improving access and quality for seriously ill Americans—while requiring new federal spending, carrying administrative limits that may curb reach, and restricting federally funded activity related to assisted dying.
Patients with serious or life‑threatening illnesses (especially seniors, Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries, people with disabilities, and rural communities) will likely gain better access to palliative and hospice services and improved symptom management and care continuity as more providers are trained and outreach materials are posted.
Healthcare workers (physicians, nurses, PAs, social workers, CNAs), students, and academic programs receive funded training, fellowships, junior faculty support, and career incentives that strengthen the palliative care workforce pipeline and interprofessional capacity.
The federal government is directing new, targeted resources (multi-year appropriations for training grants and fellowships plus NIH research coordination) toward integrating palliative care into primary, specialty, and community settings.
Taxpayers face new federal spending (the training appropriations plus expanded NIH activity), creating opportunity costs and modest increases in federal outlays that could otherwise fund other programs.
The appropriations and program caps (e.g., fellowship limits, $5M/year training grants) are relatively limited and may be insufficient to scale training and services nationally, leaving persistent gaps in rural and underserved communities.
Grant application, maintenance‑of‑effort, and reporting requirements could impose administrative burdens that deter smaller institutions, community programs, and some health systems from applying or participating, reducing reach to underserved areas.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Creates federal grant, training, public information, and research programs to expand the palliative care and hospice workforce and improve access and knowledge.
Creates new federal programs to expand teaching, training, career support, and research in palliative care and hospice. It authorizes grants and contracts to schools, hospitals, hospices, and related training programs to build an interprofessional workforce, offers career awards and fellowships, requires public education materials, and directs a cross‑NIH research strategy on palliative care. Provides specified annual funding authorizations through FY2026–2030 (including $15 million/year for workforce/education activities and $5 million/year for interprofessional training), sets program rules (eligibility, training standards, service obligations), and includes a prohibition that funds cannot be used to promote or assist in causing a patient's death.
Introduced July 16, 2025 by Buddy Carter · Last progress July 16, 2025