I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6157 
To create a patient-centered quality of care initiative for seriously ill patients 
through the establishment of a stakeholder strategic summit, quality 
of life education and awareness initiative, health care workforce training, 
an advisory committee, and palliative care focused research, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 19, 2012 
Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Mr. BACHUS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To create a patient-centered quality of care initiative for 
seriously ill patients through the establishment of a 
stakeholder strategic summit, quality of life education 
and awareness initiative, health care workforce training, 
an advisory committee, and palliative care focused re-
search, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Patient Centered Qual-
ity Care for Life Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Studies demonstrate that, despite very high 
health expenditures, seriously ill patients are not 
satisfied with the quality of their medical care, char-
acterized by untreated symptoms, unmet psycho-
social and personal care needs, high caregiver bur-
den, and low patient and family satisfaction. 
(2) Health care delivery systems in the United 
States are not set up to address the complex chronic 
care needs that are increasingly becoming the norm 
for more patients and survivors (and family care-
givers of such patients and survivors) facing serious 
illness like cancer; heart, renal and liver failure; lung 
disease; Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, 
which are care needs that can span over many years 
or even decades and impose significant burdens on 
family caregivers. 
(3) Public outreach and education for seriously 
ill patients, survivors, and their families to improve 
awareness of and demand for the benefits of inte-
grating symptom management alongside disease-di-
rected treatment is essential to improving the quality 
of life of patients, survivors, and their families, 
which should be an integral element of quality health 
care. 
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(4) Palliative care is specialized medical care 
for seriously ill patients. This type of care is focused 
on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, 
pain, and stresses of a serious illness—whatever the 
diagnosis. The goal is to improve quality of life for 
both the patient and the family. Palliative care is 
provided by a team of doctors, nurses, and other 
specialists who work with a patient’s other doctors 
to provide an extra layer of support. Palliative care 
is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a seri-
ous illness, and can be provided together with cura-
tive treatment. 
(5) Medical teams that help patients manage 
pain and stress during, alongside, and after treat-
ment provide patients with better quality of life. Evi-
dence-based research shows that such care may also 
lead to increased survival. These teams also reduce 
preventable suffering and caregiver breakdown. 
(6) Patients receiving palliative or coordinated 
care feel better and are more likely to keep their 
doctor’s appointments, complete their treatment, and 
take their medications. If patient disease-related and 
treatment-related symptoms such as pain, nausea, 
depression, fatigue, and breathlessness are managed, 
patients are more likely to eat well, exercise, social-
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ize, and take pleasure in things that can help them 
feel better emotionally and physically and help them 
fight chronic illness. 
(7) A 2010 Harris Interactive poll commis-
sioned by the American Cancer Society Cancer Ac-
tion Network (ACSCAN) among cancer patients, 
survivors, and their family caregivers found that 
fewer than one-third of the patients and survivors 
were asked by their doctor about what is important 
to such patients and survivors in terms of quality of 
life. In that same poll, fewer than one-third of the 
patients and survivors were asked if they were hav-
ing stress, depression, anxiety, or other emotional 
concerns related to the cancer or discussed ways to 
help with those emotional effects, though more than 
one-third of such patients and survivors said they 
had these emotional concerns. 
(8) A report commissioned by the Health Re-
sources Service Administration (HRSA) in 2002 
projected significant shortfalls in the number of pal-
liative medicine specialists in the United States and 
called for increased education and training in symp-
tom assessment and management and other pallia-
tive care core competencies across all clinical special-
ties serving seriously ill patients. Several Institute of 
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Medicine cancer reports, including on palliative care 
in 2001, survivorship in 2006, psychosocial care in 
2007, and pain in 2011 have also consistently sig-
naled the need for skills training to improve health 
professional communication with patients and fami-
lies regarding symptoms, establishing goals of care, 
tailoring treatments to those goals, and other quality 
of life concerns. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL PATIENT-CENTERED HEALTH CARE AND 
QUALITY OF LIFE STAKEHOLDER STRATEGIC 
SUMMIT. 
(a) SUMMIT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall convene a Patient-Centered 
Health Care and Quality of Life Stakeholder Strategic 
Summit (in this Act to be referred to as the ‘‘Summit’’) 
to be composed of individuals with appropriate expertise 
to— 
(1) analyze key health system barriers to pro-
viding patient-centered health care that integrates 
symptom management and other aspects of coordi-
nated or palliative care; and 
(2) identify strategic solutions for collectively 
addressing quality of life concerns for the rapidly ex-
panding population of patients and survivors facing 
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