I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3119 

To 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, social work schools, and other programs, including physician assistant education programs, to promote education and 

research in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development 

of faculty careers in academic palliative medicine. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2015 

Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Mr. REED, and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To 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, social work schools, and other programs, including physician assistant education programs, to promote 

education and research in palliative care and hospice, 

and to support the development of faculty careers in 

academic palliative medicine. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Palliative Care and 

3 Hospice Education and Training Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) Health care providers need better education 

7 about pain management and palliative care. Stu8 dents graduating from medical school have very lit9 tle, if any, training in the core precepts of pain and 

10 symptom management, advance care planning, com11 munication skills, and care coordination for patients 

12 with serious, life-threatening, or terminal illness. 

13 (2) Palliative care is interdisciplinary, patient14 and family-centered health care for people with seri15 ous illnesses. This type of care is focused on pro16 viding patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, 

17 and stress of a serious illness, whatever the diag18 nosis. The goal of palliative care is to relieve suf19 fering and improve quality of life for both patients 

20 and their families. Palliative care is provided by a 

21 team of doctors, nurses, social workers, physician as22 sistants, chaplains, and other specialists who work 

23 with a patient’s other health care providers to pro24 vide an extra layer of support, including assistance 

25 with difficult medical decisionmaking and coordina26 tion of care among specialists. Palliative care is apVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:44 Jul 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3119.IH H3119

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1 propriate at any age and at any stage in a serious 

2 illness, and can be provided together with curative 

3 treatment. Palliative care is not dependent on a life4 limiting prognosis and may actually help an indi5 vidual recover from illness by relieving symptoms, 

6 such as pain, anxiety, or loss of appetite, while un7 dergoing sometimes difficult medical treatments or 

8 procedures, such as surgery or chemotherapy. In 

9 2013, 1,744 United States hospitals with 50 or more 

10 beds had a palliative care program. 

11 (3) Hospice is palliative care for patients in 

12 their last year of life. Considered the model for qual13 ity compassionate care for individuals facing a life14 limiting illness, hospice provides expert medical care, 

15 pain management, and emotional and spiritual sup16 port expressly tailored to the patient’s needs and 

17 wishes. In most cases, care is provided in the pa18 tient’s home but may also be provided in free19 standing hospice centers, hospitals, nursing homes, 

20 and other long-term care facilities. In 2012, an esti21 mated 1.5 million to 1.6 million patients received 

22 services from hospice, including non-Medicare bene23 ficiaries. Nearly 45 percent of all deaths in the 

24 United States in 2011 occurred under the care of a 

25 hospice program. Hospice is a covered benefit under 


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1 the Medicare program. There were 3,782 Medicare2 certified hospices serving more than 1,200,000 Medi3 care beneficiaries in 2012. 

4 (4) Despite a high intensity of medical treat5 ment, many seriously ill patients experience trou6 bling symptoms, unmet psychological and personal 

7 care needs, and high caregiver burden. Numerous 

8 studies have shown that adding palliative care can 

9 improve pain and symptom control, quality of life, 

10 and family satisfaction with care. 

11 (5) A 2005 study at Michigan State University 

12 found that the formal training of United States doc13 tors in palliative care is ‘‘grossly inadequate’’. When 

14 the American Society of Clinical Oncology surveyed 

15 their members, 65 percent said they had received in16 adequate education in controlling symptoms associ17 ated with cancer, and 81 percent felt they had inad18 equate mentoring in discussing a poor prognosis 

19 with their patients and families. Training in pedi20 atric palliative care is also seriously lacking accord21 ing to physicians, residents, and medical students re22 sponding to a survey presented at a meeting of 

23 American Federation for Medical Research. 

24 (6) The American Board of Medical Specialties 

25 (ABMS) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate 


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1 Medical Education (ACGME) provided formal sub2 specialty status for hospice and palliative medicine 

3 (HPM) in 2006, and the Centers for Medicare & 

4 Medicaid Services recognized hospice and palliative 

5 medicine as a medical subspecialty in October of 

6 2008. 

7 (7) As of April 2015, there were a total of 106 

8 hospice and palliative medicine training programs 

9 accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate 

10 Medical Education. For the 2014–2015 academic 

11 year, these programs were training 265 physicians in 

12 hospice and palliative medicine. Some programs in13 clude an additional track in research, geriatrics, pe14 diatrics, or public health. 

15 (8) There is a large gap between those prac16 ticing in the palliative medicine field and the number 

17 of physicians needed. A mid-range estimate by the 

18 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medi19 cine’s Workforce Task Force calls for 6,000 or more 

20 full-time equivalents to serve current needs in hos21 pice and palliative care programs. At maximum ca22 pacity, the current system would produce roughly 

23 5,300 new hospice and palliative medicine certified 

24 physicians over the next 20 years, during which time 

25 some 70,000,000 new Medicare beneficiaries will 


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1 enter the Medicare program. At the same time, there 

2 is expected to be increasing acceptance of the hos3 pice and palliative approach to care among the gen4 eral population and health care providers. 

5 (9) According to the Institute of Medicine, 

6 there is a ‘‘need for better understanding of the role 

7 of palliative care among both the public and profes8 sionals across the continuum of care so that hospice 

9 and palliative care can achieve their full potential for 

10 patients and their families’’. 

11 SEC. 3. PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE EDUCATION AND 

12 TRAINING. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title VII of the Public 

14 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294 et seq.) is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 759A. PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE EDUCATION 

17 AND TRAINING. 

18 ‘‘(a) PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE EDUCATION

19 CENTERS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

21 grants or contracts under this section to entities de22 scribed in paragraph (1), (3), or (4) of section 

23 799B, and section 801(2), for the establishment or 

24 operation of Palliative Care and Hospice Education 


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1 Centers that meet the requirements of paragraph 

2 (2). 

3 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A Palliative Care and 

4 Hospice Education Center meets the requirements of 

5 this paragraph if such Center— 

6 ‘‘(A) improves the training of health pro7 fessionals in palliative care, including residen8 cies, traineeships, or fellowships; 

9 ‘‘(B) develops and disseminates curricula 

10 relating to the palliative treatment of the com11 plex health problems of individuals with serious 

12 or life threatening illnesses; 

13 ‘‘(C) supports the training and retraining 

14 of faculty to provide instruction in palliative 

15 care; 

16 ‘‘(D) supports continuing education of 

17 health professionals who provide palliative care 

18 to patients with serious or life threatening ill19 ness; 

20 ‘‘(E) provides students (including resi21 dents, trainees, and fellows) with clinical train22 ing in palliative care in long-term care facilities, 

23 home care, hospices, chronic and acute disease 

24 hospitals, and ambulatory care centers; 


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1 ‘‘(F) establishes traineeships for individ2 uals who are preparing for advanced education 

3 nursing degrees, social work degrees, or ad4 vanced degrees in physician assistant studies, 

5 with a focus in palliative care in long-term care 

6 facilities, home care, hospices, chronic and 

7 acute disease hospitals, and ambulatory care 

8 centers; and 

9 ‘‘(G) does not duplicate the activities of ex10 isting education centers funded under this sec11 tion or under section 753 or 865. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXPANSION OF EXISTING CENTERS.— 

13 Nothing in this section shall be construed to— 

14 ‘‘(A) prevent the Secretary from providing 

15 grants to expand existing education centers, in16 cluding geriatric education centers established 

17 under section 753 or 865, to provide for edu18 cation and training focused specifically on pal19 liative care, including for non-geriatric popu20 lations; or 

21 ‘‘(B) limit the number of education centers 

22 that may be funded in a community. 

23 ‘‘(b) PALLIATIVE MEDICINE PHYSICIAN TRAINING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

25 grants to, and enter into contracts with, schools of 


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1 medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, teaching 

2 hospitals, and graduate medical education programs, 

3 for the purpose of providing support for projects 

4 that fund the training of physicians (including resi5 dents, trainees, and fellows) who plan to teach pal6 liative medicine. 

7 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each project for which 

8 a grant or contract is made under this subsection 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) be staffed by full-time teaching physi11 cians who have experience or training in pallia12 tive medicine; 

13 ‘‘(B) be based in a hospice and palliative 

14 medicine fellowship program accredited by the 

15 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical 

16 Education; 

17 ‘‘(C) provide training in palliative medicine 

18 through a variety of service rotations, such as 

19 consultation services, acute care services, ex20 tended care facilities, ambulatory care and com21 prehensive evaluation units, hospice, home 

22 health, and community care programs; 

23 ‘‘(D) develop specific performance-based 

24 measures to evaluate the competency of train25 ees; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) provide training in palliative medicine 

2 through one or both of the training options de3 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para4 graph (3). 

5 ‘‘(3) TRAINING OPTIONS.—The training options 

6 referred to in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) 

7 shall be as follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) 1-year retraining programs in hospice 

9 and palliative medicine for physicians who are 

10 faculty at schools of medicine and osteopathic 

11 medicine, or others determined appropriate by 

12 the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(B) 1- or 2-year training programs that 

14 shall be designed to provide training in hospice 

15 and palliative medicine for physicians who have 

16 completed graduate medical education programs 

17 in any medical specialty leading to board eligi18 bility in hospice and palliative medicine pursu19 ant to the American Board of Medical Special20 ties. 

21 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub22 section the term ‘graduate medical education’ means 

23 a program sponsored by a school of medicine, a 

24 school of osteopathic medicine, a hospital, or a pub25 lic or private institution that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) offers postgraduate medical training 

2 in the specialties and subspecialties of medicine; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) has been accredited by the Accredita5 tion Council for Graduate Medical Education or 

6 the American Osteopathic Association through 

7 its Committee on Postdoctoral Training. 

8 ‘‘(c) PALLIATIVE MEDICINE AND HOSPICE ACA9 DEMIC CAREER AWARDS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec11 retary shall establish a program to provide awards, 

12 to be known as the ‘Palliative Medicine and Hospice 

13 Academic Career Awards’, to eligible individuals to 

14 promote the career development of such individuals 

15 as academic hospice and palliative care physicians. 

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—To be eligible to 

17 receive an award under paragraph (1), an individual 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) be board certified or board eligible in 

20 hospice and palliative medicine; and 

21 ‘‘(B) have a junior (non-tenured) faculty 

22 appointment at an accredited (as determined by 

23 the Secretary) school of medicine or osteopathic 

24 medicine. 


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1 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—No award under para2 graph (1) may be made to an eligible individual un3 less the individual— 

4 ‘‘(A) has submitted to the Secretary an ap5 plication, at such time, in such manner, and 

6 containing such information as the Secretary 

7 may require, and the Secretary has approved 

8 such application; 

9 ‘‘(B) provides, in such form and manner as 

10 the Secretary may require, assurances that the 

11 individual will meet the service requirement de12 scribed in paragraph (6); and 

13 ‘‘(C) provides, in such form and manner as 

14 the Secretary may require, assurances that the 

15 individual has a full-time faculty appointment 

16 in a health professions institution and docu17 mented commitment from such institution to 

18 spend a majority of the total funded time of 

19 such individual on teaching and developing 

20 skills in interdisciplinary education in palliative 

21 care. 

22 ‘‘(4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—An eligible 

23 individual who receives an award under paragraph 

24 (1) shall provide assurances to the Secretary that 

25 funds provided to the eligible individual under this 


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1 subsection will be used only to supplement, not to 

2 supplant, the amount of Federal, State, and local 

3 funds otherwise expended by the eligible individual. 

4 ‘‘(5) AMOUNT AND TERM.— 

5 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—The amount of an award 

6 under this subsection shall be equal to the 

7 award amount provided for under section 

8 753(c)(5)(A) for the fiscal year involved. 

9 ‘‘(B) TERM.—The term of an award made 

10 under this subsection shall not exceed 5 years. 

11 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT TO INSTITUTION.—The 

12 Secretary shall make payments for awards 

13 under this subsection to institutions which in14 clude schools of medicine and osteopathic medi15 cine. 

16 ‘‘(6) SERVICE REQUIREMENT.—An individual 

17 who receives an award under this subsection shall 

18 provide training in palliative care and hospice, in19 cluding the training of interdisciplinary teams of 

20 health care professionals. The provision of such 

21 training shall constitute a majority of the total fund22 ed obligations of such individual under the award. 

23 ‘‘(d) PALLIATIVE CARE WORKFORCE DEVELOP24 MENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

2 grants or contracts under this subsection to entities 

3 that operate a Palliative Care and Hospice Edu4 cation Center pursuant to subsection (a)(1). 

5 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for an 

6 award under paragraph (1), an entity described in 

7 such paragraph shall submit to the Secretary an ap8 plication at such time, in such manner, and con9 taining such information as the Secretary may re10 quire. 

11 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts awarded under 

12 a grant or contract under paragraph (1) shall be 

13 used to carry out the fellowship program described 

14 in paragraph (4). 

15 ‘‘(4) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to para17 graph (3), a Palliative Care and Hospice Edu18 cation Center that receives an award under this 

19 subsection shall use such funds to offer short20 term intensive courses (referred to in this sub21 section as a ‘fellowship’) that focus on palliative 

22 care that provide supplemental training for fac23 ulty members in medical schools and other 

24 health professions schools with programs in 

25 psychology, pharmacy, nursing, social work, 


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1 physician assistant education, chaplaincy, or 

2 other health disciplines, as approved by the Sec3 retary. Such a fellowship shall be open to cur4 rent faculty, and appropriately credentialed vol5 unteer faculty and practitioners, who do not 

6 have formal training in palliative care, to up7 grade their knowledge and clinical skills for the 

8 care of individuals with serious or life-threat9 ening illness and to enhance their interdiscipli10 nary and interprofessional teaching skills. 

11 ‘‘(B) LOCATION.—A fellowship under this 

12 paragraph shall be offered either at the Pallia13 tive Care and Hospice Education Center that is 

14 sponsoring the course, in collaboration with 

15 other Palliative Care and Hospice Education 

16 Centers, or at medical schools, schools of nurs17 ing, schools of pharmacy, schools of social work, 

18 schools of chaplaincy or pastoral care education, 

19 graduate programs in psychology, physician as20 sistant education programs, or other health pro21 fessions schools approved by the Secretary with 

22 which the Centers are affiliated. 

23 ‘‘(C) CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT.— 

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1 plying with continuing health profession edu2 cation requirements. As a condition of such ac3 ceptance, the recipient shall subsequently pro4 vide a minimum of 18 hours of voluntary in5 struction in palliative care content (that has 

6 been approved by a palliative care and hospice 

7 education center) to students or trainees in 

8 health-related educational, home, hospice, or 

9 long-term care settings. 

10 ‘‘(5) TARGETS.—A Palliative Care and Hospice 

11 Education Center that receives an award under this 

12 subsection shall meet targets approved by the Sec13 retary for providing palliative care training to a cer14 tain number of faculty or practitioners during the 

15 term of the award, as well as other parameters es16 tablished by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(6) AMOUNT OF AWARD.—An award under 

18 this subsection shall be in an amount of $150,000. 

19 Not more than 24 Palliative Care and Hospice Edu20 cation Centers may receive an award under this sub21 section. 

22 ‘‘(7) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—A Palliative 

23 Care and Hospice Education Center that receives an 

24 award under this subsection shall provide assurances 

25 to the Secretary that funds provided to the Center 


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1 under the award will be used only to supplement, 

2 not to supplant, the amount of Federal, State, and 

3 local funds otherwise expended by such Center. 

4 ‘‘(e) PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE CAREER IN5 CENTIVE AWARDS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

7 grants or contracts under this subsection to individ8 uals described in paragraph (2) to foster greater in9 terest among a variety of health professionals in en10 tering the field of palliative care. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—To be eligible to 

12 receive an award under paragraph (1), an individual 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) be an advanced practice nurse, a so15 cial worker, physician assistant, pharmacist, 

16 chaplain, or student of psychology who is pur17 suing a doctorate, masters, or other advanced 

18 degree with a focus in palliative care or related 

19 fields in an accredited health professions school; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) submit to the Secretary an applica22 tion at such time, in such manner, and con23 taining such information as the Secretary may 

24 require. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONDITIONS OF AWARD.—As a condition 

2 of receiving an award under this subsection, an indi3 vidual shall agree that, following completion of the 

4 award period, the individual will teach or practice 

5 palliative care in health-related educational, home, 

6 hospice or long-term care settings for a minimum of 

7 5 years under guidelines established by the Sec8 retary. 

9 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT TO INSTITUTION.—The Sec10 retary shall make payments for awards under this 

11 subsection to institutions which include schools of 

12 medicine, osteopathic medicine, nursing, social work, 

13 psychology, chaplaincy or pastoral care education, 

14 dentistry, and pharmacy, or other allied health dis15 cipline in an accredited health professions school or 

16 program (such as a physician assistant education 

17 program) that is approved by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

20 $44,100,000 for each of the fiscal years 2016 through 

21 2020.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 this section shall be effective beginning on the date that 

24 is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE NURSING. 

2 (a) PREFERENCE FOR GRANTS OR AWARDS FOR

3 NURSING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.—Sec4 tion 805 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 296d) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘or help’’ and inserting ‘‘help’’; 

7 and 

8 (2) by inserting the following before the period 

9 at the end: ‘‘, or for education and training in hos10 pice and palliative nursing’’. 

11 (b) ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING GRANTS.—Sec12 tion 811 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 296j) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

16 the end; 

17 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

18 paragraph (3); 

19 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1), the 

20 following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(2) palliative care and hospice career incentive 

22 awards authorized under section 759A(e); and’’; and 

23 (D) in subsection (g)(2), by inserting ‘‘or 

24 for education and training in hospice and pal25 liative nursing’’ after ‘‘section 332’’. 


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1 (c) NURSE EDUCATION, PRACTICE, AND QUALITY

2 GRANTS.—Section 831 of the Public Health Service Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 296p) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para6 graph (1); 

7 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

8 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(3) education and training in hospice and pal12 liative nursing.’’; and 

13 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘hospice 

14 and palliative nursing,’’ after ‘‘coordinated care,’’. 

15 (d) NURSE RETENTION GRANTS.—Section 831A of 

16 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p–1) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end 

19 the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall also give pref20 erence to applicants with programs that include ini21 tiatives to train nurses in hospice and palliative 

22 nursing.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 

24 following: ‘‘The Secretary may also award grants to, 


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1 or enter into contracts with, eligible entities to train 

2 nurses in hospice and palliative nursing.’’. 

3 (e) ADDITIONAL PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE

4 EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Part D of title 

5 VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p 

6 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 832. PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE EDUCATION 

8 AND TRAINING. 

9 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 

10 award grants to eligible entities to develop and implement, 

11 in coordination with programs under section 759A, pro12 grams and initiatives to train and educate individuals in 

13 providing palliative care in health-related educational, hos14 pice, home, or long-term care settings. 

15 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

16 a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds under such 

17 grant to— 

18 ‘‘(1) provide training to individuals who will 

19 provide palliative care in health-related educational, 

20 home, hospice, or long-term care settings; 

21 ‘‘(2) develop and disseminate curricula relating 

22 to palliative care in health-related educational, home, 

23 hospice, or long-term care settings; 


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1 ‘‘(3) train faculty members in palliative care in 

2 health-related educational, home, hospice, or long3 term care settings; or 

4 ‘‘(4) provide continuing education to individuals 

5 who provide palliative care in health-related edu6 cational, home, hospice, or long-term care settings. 

7 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a 

8 grant under subsection (a) shall submit an application to 

9 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con10 taining such information as the Secretary may reasonably 

11 require. 

12 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this sec13 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ shall include a school of 

14 nursing, a health care facility, a program leading to cer15 tification as a certified nurse assistant, a partnership of 

16 such a school and facility, or a partnership of such a pro17 gram and facility. 

18 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. NATIONAL PALLIATIVE CARE EDUCATION AND 

22 AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. 

23 Part A of title IX of the Public Health Service Act 

24 (42 U.S.C. 299 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 904. NATIONAL PALLIATIVE CARE EDUCATION AND 

2 AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Under the authority under sec4 tion 902(a) to disseminate information on health care and 

5 on systems for the delivery of such care, the Director shall 

6 provide for the planning and implementation of a national 

7 education and awareness campaign to inform patients, 

8 families, and health professionals about the benefits of 

9 palliative care throughout the continuum of care for pa10 tients with serious or life-threatening illness. 

11 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION DISSEMINATED.— 

12 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY INFORMATION.—The cam13 paign under subsection (a) shall include dissemina14 tion of the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) PALLIATIVE CARE.—Information, re16 sources, and communication materials about 

17 palliative care as an essential part of the con18 tinuum of quality care for patients and families 

19 facing serious or life-threatening illness (includ20 ing cancer; heart, kidney, liver, lung, and infec21 tious diseases; as well as neurodegenerative dis22 ease such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or 

23 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)). 

24 ‘‘(B) PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICES.—Spe25 cific information regarding the services provided 

26 to patients by professionals trained in hospice 


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1 and palliative care, including pain and symptom 

2 management, support for shared decisionmak3 ing, care coordination, psychosocial care, and 

4 spiritual care, explaining that such services may 

5 be provided starting at the point of diagnosis 

6 and alongside curative treatment and are in7 tended to— 

8 ‘‘(i) provide patient-centered and fam9 ily-centered support throughout the con10 tinuum of care for serious and life-threat11 ening illness; 

12 ‘‘(ii) anticipate, prevent, and treat 

13 physical, emotional, social, and spiritual 

14 suffering; 

15 ‘‘(iii) optimize quality of life; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) facilitate and support goals and 

17 values of patients and the families of pa18 tients. 

19 ‘‘(C) PALLIATIVE CARE PROFESSIONALS.— 

20 Specific materials that explain the role of pro21 fessionals trained in hospice and palliative care 

22 in providing team-based care (including pain 

23 and symptom management, support for shared 

24 decisionmaking, care coordination, psychosocial 

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1 lies throughout the continuum of care for seri2 ous or life-threatening illness. 

3 ‘‘(D) RESEARCH.—Evidence-based re4 search demonstrating the benefits of patient ac5 cess to palliative care throughout the continuum 

6 of care for serious or life-threatening illness. 

7 ‘‘(E) POPULATION-SPECIFIC MATERIALS.— 

8 Materials shall be developed that target specific 

9 populations, including patients with serious or 

10 life-threatening illness who are among medically 

11 underserved populations (as defined in section 

12 330(b)(3)) and families of such patients or 

13 health professionals serving medically under14 served populations. Such populations shall in15 clude pediatric patients, young adult and ado16 lescent patients, racial and ethnic minority pop17 ulations, and other priority populations speci18 fied by the Director. 

19 ‘‘(2) OTHER INFORMATION.—In addition to the 

20 information described in paragraph (1), such cam21 paign may include dissemination of such other infor22 mation as the Director determines to be relevant. 

23 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION FORMAT.—The information 

24 and materials required to be disseminated under 

25 paragraph (1) and any information disseminated 


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1 under paragraph (2) shall be presented in a variety 

2 of formats (such as posted online, in print, and 

3 through public service announcements). 

4 ‘‘(4) REQUIRED PUBLICATION.—The informa5 tion and materials required to be disseminated under 

6 paragraph (1) and any information disseminated 

7 under paragraph (2) shall be posted on the Internet 

8 web sites of relevant Federal agencies and Depart9 ments, including the Agency for Healthcare Re10 search and Quality, the Centers for Medicare & 

11 Medicaid Services, the Administration on Aging, the 

12 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the 

13 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

14 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—The Director shall consult 

15 with appropriate professional societies, hospice and pallia16 tive care stakeholders, and relevant patient advocate orga17 nizations with respect to palliative care, psychosocial care, 

18 and complex chronic illness with respect to the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) The planning and implementation of the 

20 national palliative care education and awareness 

21 campaign under this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) The development of information to be dis23 seminated under this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) A definition of the term ‘serious or life25 threatening illness’ for purposes of this section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ENHANCING NIH RESEARCH IN PALLIATIVE CARE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title IV of the Public 

3 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 409K. ENHANCING RESEARCH IN PALLIATIVE CARE. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

7 the Director of the National Institutes of Health, shall de8 velop and implement a strategy to be applied across the 

9 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health 

10 to expand national research programs in palliative care. 

11 ‘‘(b) RESEARCH PROGRAMS.—The Director of the 

12 National Institutes of Health shall expand and intensify 

13 research programs in palliative care to address the quality 

14 of care and quality of life for the rapidly growing popu15 lation of patients in the United States with serious or life16 threatening illnesses, including cancer; heart, kidney, liver, 

17 lung, and infectious diseases; as well as neurodegenerative 

18 disease such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or 

19 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).’’. 

20 (b) EXPANDING TRANS-NIH RESEARCH REPORTING

21 TO INCLUDE PALLIATIVE CARE RESEARCH.—Section 

22 402A(c)(2)(B)(i) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 282a(c)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and, 

24 beginning January 1, 2017, for conducting or supporting 


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1 research with respect to palliative care’’ after ‘‘or national 

2 centers’’. 

Æ 


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