Sponsors (24)
The bill makes a targeted federal investment to expand palliative care training, information, and research—likely improving access and quality for seriously ill and underserved patients—while increasing federal spending, adding compliance and administrative burdens, and posing legal/clinical limits at end of life that could reduce certain options or clinicians' flexibility.
Healthcare workers (physicians, nurses, social workers, trainees) will receive funded, specialized palliative and hospice training that expands provider capacity nationwide, improving care for seriously ill patients.
Patients with serious or life‑threatening illnesses—especially in rural, underserved, tribal, pediatric, and minority communities—are more likely to learn about and access palliative and hospice services due to prioritized funding and targeted outreach materials.
Medical and nursing education capacity will be strengthened through faculty fellowships, short-term retraining, and curricula support, increasing the supply of clinicians who can teach and deliver palliative care.
Taxpayers will fund new and ongoing programs (including $15M/yr plus additional $5M/yr grants and costs for materials/research coordination), increasing federal spending with limited offsets.
The bill's prohibition that funded palliative care not be intended to cause or assist death could restrict some end‑of‑life options and may chill certain symptom‑relief practices (e.g., high‑dose analgesia), potentially harming patient comfort.
Service obligations attached to some awards (e.g., five‑year teaching/practice requirements) may deter applicants and constrain career flexibility for clinicians and trainees.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes grants, training, AHRQ outreach, and a trans‑NIH research strategy to expand palliative care education, information, and research (plus $5M/yr for FY2026–2030).
Official title: Amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, and other programs, including social work, physician assistant, and chaplaincy education programs, to promote education and research in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development of faculty careers in academic palliative and hospice care.
Introduced July 15, 2025 by Tammy Baldwin · Last progress July 15, 2025
Creates federal programs and activities to expand training, education, public information, and research in palliative care and hospice. It authorizes new grant/contract programs for clinical and interprofessional training, requires AHRQ to disseminate patient-facing materials about palliative care, and directs NIH to coordinate and report on expanded palliative care research; one section authorizes $5 million per year for training grants for FY2026–2030. The bill also includes a prohibition that funds provided under the Act cannot be used to provide or promote services that federal law already bars (e.g., assisted suicide) and clarifies palliative and hospice care funded under the Act must not be intended to cause or assist death.