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Bill

S 5219

A bill to improve end-of-life care.

119th Congress Introduced by Richard Blumenthal and 1 co-sponsor

Improve end-of-life care by expanding access to palliative/hospice services, standardizing quality, and boosting care coordination and patient-centered planning.

Introduced in Senate
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · S 5219

Summary of Bill: S.5219 (Session 119) – A bill to improve end-of-life care

Purpose and intent

  • The central aim of S.5219 is to improve the quality, accessibility, and coordination of end-of-life care for individuals facing serious, life-limiting illnesses.
  • The bill seeks to address gaps in care by promoting patient-centered decision-making, expanding access to palliative and hospice services, and supporting caregivers and providers.

Key provisions and changes (highlights)

  • End-of-life care standards: Establish or reinforce standards for palliative care and hospice services to ensure consistent quality across settings (hospice facilities, hospitals, long-term care, and home care).
  • Advance care planning: Encourage or require proactive conversations about goals of care, treatment preferences, and advance directives between patients, families, and health care providers.
  • Access and coverage: Extend or expand access to palliative care and hospice services, potentially including coordination with Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance to reduce barriers and improve coverage for services such as pain and symptom management, and supportive care.
  • Care coordination: Promote integrated care approaches that coordinate medical, social, and spiritual support for individuals at the end of life, including transitions between care settings to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations.
  • Workforce and education: Invest in provider training and workforce development to ensure clinicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains are equipped to deliver high-quality end-of-life care and communicate effectively with patients and families.
  • Data and accountability: Create reporting, metrics, or quality improvement requirements to monitor outcomes in end-of-life care and to assess adherence to established standards.
  • Protections and patient rights: Reinforce patient autonomy in decision-making, ensuring that individuals retain the right to decline unwanted treatments and receive appropriate symptom management and comfort-focused care.

Who would be affected

  • Patients and families: Individuals facing serious illness and decisions about end-of-life care, and their caregivers, who would benefit from clearer guidance, expanded access to services, and improved care coordination.
  • Health care providers: Physicians, nurses, social workers, palliative care specialists, and other clinicians who would be involved in delivering and coordinating end-of-life care and who would receive additional training and guidelines.
  • Health systems and facilities: Hospitals, hospices, long-term care facilities, and home-based care programs that implement standardized end-of-life care practices and reporting requirements.
  • Payers: Federal programs (e.g., Medicare) and possibly state Medicaid programs or private insurers, particularly if the bill expands coverage or creates incentive/quality-pay-for-performance components tied to end-of-life services.

Procedural/timeline aspects

  • Introduction and referral: The bill was introduced in the Senate and assigned to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  • Action to date: Read twice and referred to the committee on 2026-08-03.
  • Next steps (typical for this stage): The committee may hold hearings, request amendments, and vote whether to advance the bill to the Senate floor. If advanced, it could be brought to the full Senate for debate and a vote, and, if passed, would move to the House of Representatives for consideration, with potential reconciliation if different versions emerge.

Additional notes

  • The bill has bipartisan sponsorship, including co-sponsors Adam Schiff and Richard Blumenthal, signaling cross-party interest in enhancing end-of-life care.
  • Specific funding levels, program names, or statutory text are not provided in the outline available here; the final bill text would detail any appropriations, regulatory changes, and implementation timelines.

If you’d like, I can tailor this summary to a particular audience (patients, health care professionals, policymakers) or compare it to existing laws (e.g., current Medicare/Medicaid palliative care provisions) once the full text is available.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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