IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 647 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
OCTOBER 29, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the 
number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accred-
ited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing 
schools, social work schools, and other programs, includ-
ing 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. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:40 Oct 30, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H647.RFS
H647
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
HR 647 RFS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Palliative Care and 
Hospice Education and Training Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE EDUCATION AND 
TRAINING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title VII of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 759 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 759A. PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE EDUCATION 
AND TRAINING. 
‘‘(a) PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE EDUCATION 
CENTERS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 
grants or contracts under this section to entities de-
scribed in paragraph (1), (3), or (4) of section 
799B, and section 801(2), for the establishment or 
operation of Palliative Care and Hospice Education 
Centers that meet the requirements of paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A Palliative Care and 
Hospice Education Center meets the requirements of 
this paragraph if such Center— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:40 Oct 30, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H647.RFS
H647
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
HR 647 RFS
‘‘(A) improves the interprofessional team- 
based training of health professionals in pallia-
tive care, including residencies, traineeships, or 
fellowships; 
‘‘(B) develops and disseminates inter-
professional team-based curricula relating to 
the palliative treatment of the complex health 
problems of individuals with serious or life- 
threatening illnesses; 
‘‘(C) supports the training and retraining 
of faculty to provide instruction in interprofes-
sional team-based palliative care; 
‘‘(D) supports interprofessional team-based 
continuing education of health professionals 
who provide palliative care to patients with seri-
ous or life-threatening illness; 
‘‘(E) provides students (including resi-
dents, trainees, and fellows) with clinical train-
ing in interprofessional team-based palliative 
care in appropriate health settings, including 
hospitals, hospices, home care, long-term care 
facilities, and ambulatory care centers; 
‘‘(F) establishes traineeships for individ-
uals who are preparing for advanced education 
nursing degrees, social work degrees, or ad-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:40 Oct 30, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H647.RFS
H647
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
HR 647 RFS
vanced degrees in physician assistant studies, 
with a focus in interprofessional team-based 
palliative care in appropriate health settings, in-
cluding hospitals, hospices, home care, long- 
term care facilities, and ambulatory care cen-
ters; 
‘‘(G) supports collaboration between mul-
tiple specialty training programs (such as medi-
cine, nursing, social work, physician assistant, 
chaplaincy, and pharmacy) and clinical training 
sites to provide training in interprofessional 
team-based palliative care; and 
‘‘(H) does not duplicate the activities of 
existing education centers funded under this 
section or under section 753 or 865. 
‘‘(3) EXPANSION
OF
EXISTING
CENTERS.— 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to— 
‘‘(A) prevent the Secretary from providing 
grants to expand existing education centers, in-
cluding geriatric education centers established 
under section 753 or 865, to provide for edu-
cation and training focused specifically on pal-
liative care, including for non-geriatric popu-
lations; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:40 Oct 30, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H647.RFS
H647
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
HR 647 RFS
‘‘(B) limit the number of education centers 
that may be funded in a community. 
‘‘(b) PALLIATIVE MEDICINE PHYSICIAN TRAINING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 
grants to, and enter into contracts with, schools of 
medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, teaching 
hospitals, and graduate medical education programs 
for the purpose of providing support for projects 
that fund the training of physicians (including resi-
dents, trainees, and fellows) who plan to teach pal-
liative medicine. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each project for which 
a grant or contract is made under this subsection 
shall— 
‘‘(A) be staffed by full-time teaching physi-
cians who have experience or training in inter-
professional team-based palliative medicine; 
‘‘(B) be based in a hospice and palliative 
medicine fellowship program accredited by the 
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical 
Education; 
‘‘(C) provide training in interprofessional 
team-based palliative medicine through a vari-
ety of service rotations, such as consultation 
services, acute care services, extended care fa-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:40 Oct 30, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H647.RFS
H647
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
HR 647 RFS
cilities, ambulatory care and comprehensive 
evaluation units, hospices, home care, and com-
munity care programs; 
‘‘(D) develop specific performance-based 
measures to evaluate the competency of train-
ees; and 
‘‘(E) provide training in interprofessional 
team-based palliative medicine through one or 
both of the training options described in para-
graph (3). 
‘‘(3) TRAINING OPTIONS.—The training options 
referred to in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) 
are as follows: 
‘‘(A) One-year retraining programs in hos-
pice and palliative medicine for physicians who 
are faculty at schools of medicine and osteo-
pathic medicine, or others determined appro-
priate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(B) One- or two-year training programs 
that are designed to provide training in inter-
professional team-based hospice and palliative 
medicine for physicians who have completed 
graduate medical education programs in any 
medical specialty leading to board eligibility in 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:40 Oct 30, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H647.RFS
H647
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS