Sponsors (24)
The bill boosts palliative care training, research, and public information—aiming to improve care for seriously ill and underserved Americans—while increasing federal spending, adding administrative burdens, and leaving near‑term access and clinician flexibility potentially constrained.
Healthcare workers, students, and volunteers will receive expanded, funded palliative and hospice training (grants, fellowships, short-term awards), quickly increasing workforce capacity and team-based care skills.
Patients with serious or life‑threatening illnesses — especially seniors, rural residents, Tribal communities, pediatric and minority populations, and Medicare/Medicaid/VA beneficiaries — may gain better access and clearer information that supports symptom relief and goal‑concordant care through targeted programs and tailored materials.
Researchers, NIH centers, hospitals, and patients could benefit from strengthened palliative care research priorities and coordination, producing evidence-based protocols and interventions (including for aging and dementia) that improve quality of life over time.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending from new authorizations and program expansions (multiple grant lines and research priorities), creating budgetary pressure and trade-offs with other priorities.
Hospitals, training programs, small facilities, and federal institutes will incur added administrative and compliance burdens from grant application/reporting rules, maintenance‑of‑effort requirements, NIH reporting, and documentation needed to ensure prohibited activities aren't funded.
Patients in underserved or low‑resource areas may not see meaningful improvements soon — limited funding levels, information-only efforts without increased local capacity, and the long timeline for research mean access gaps could persist.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes federal grants, training, fellowships, public information, and research to expand palliative care and hospice workforce and services, with funding for FY2026–2030.
Introduced July 15, 2025 by Tammy Baldwin · Last progress July 15, 2025
Creates a federal program to expand palliative care and hospice education, training, workforce incentives, public information, and research. It funds grants, fellowships, academic career awards, interprofessional training across care settings, public dissemination of palliative care information, and a cross‑NIH research strategy, with specific annual funding authorizations for FY2026–2030 and restrictions forbidding use of funds for assisted dying or otherwise federally prohibited activities.