Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act amends the Public Health Service Act to create multiple new federal grant and award programs aimed at expanding the palliative care and hospice workforce. The bill authorizes $15 million per year (FY2026-2030) for Section 759A programs that fund Palliative Care and Hospice Education Programs at medical, nursing, social work, chaplaincy, and physician assistant schools; physician training in palliative medicine; academic career awards for junior faculty; workforce development fellowships (capped at $150,000 each, up to 24 programs); and career incentive awards for health professionals pursuing advanced degrees in palliative care. Separately, it authorizes $5 million per year (FY2026-2030) for a new Section 832 nursing-focused palliative care training program. It directs AHRQ to disseminate palliative care information to patients, families, and professionals. It directs NIH to develop a cross-institute research strategy for palliative care. It includes an explicit prohibition on using funds for assisted suicide or euthanasia.
Who Benefits and How
Medical schools, nursing schools, social work programs, chaplaincy programs, physician assistant programs, and pharmacy programs benefit from new grant funding to establish or expand palliative care education. Junior faculty in palliative care benefit from Academic Career Awards (5-year awards at levels matching existing geriatric education awards). Health professionals pursuing advanced degrees in palliative care benefit from career incentive awards with a 5-year service commitment. Teaching hospitals and graduate medical education programs benefit from physician training grants. Palliative care patients and families benefit from increased workforce capacity and AHRQ-disseminated information about palliative care services. Rural, medically underserved, pediatric, and racial/ethnic minority populations receive priority consideration. NIH-funded researchers benefit from a new cross-institute palliative care research strategy.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers bear the cost of $20 million per year (FY2026-2030) in authorized appropriations ($15M for Sec. 759A + $5M for Sec. 832). Federal agencies bear administrative and implementation burdens: HHS must administer grant programs and set targets, AHRQ must develop and disseminate information materials, and NIH must develop a cross-institute research strategy. Grant recipients bear reporting and compliance requirements, and career incentive award recipients must commit to 5 years of palliative care teaching or practice. Existing geriatric education programs (Sec. 753, 865) may face indirect competition for faculty and institutional attention, though the bill explicitly states it should not be construed to limit their programs.
Key Provisions
- $15 million/year (FY2026-2030) authorized for Sec. 759A palliative care education, physician training, academic career awards, workforce fellowships, and career incentive awards
- $5 million/year (FY2026-2030) authorized for Sec. 832 nursing palliative care training
- Priority for programs serving rural/underserved, pediatric, and minority populations
- Academic Career Awards for junior faculty, up to 5-year terms
- Workforce development fellowships capped at $150,000 each, limited to 24 programs
- Career incentive awards requiring 5-year service commitment in palliative care
- AHRQ directed to disseminate palliative care information on federal websites
- NIH directed to develop cross-institute palliative care research strategy beginning January 1, 2026
- Explicit prohibition on funding assisted suicide or euthanasia
- Effective 90 days after enactment for Sec. 759A programs
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates multiple federal grant and award programs to expand the palliative care and hospice workforce by funding education programs, physician training, academic career awards, workforce development fellowships, and career incentive awards at medical, nursing, and allied health schools, while directing AHRQ to disseminate palliative care information and NIH to develop a cross-institute palliative care research strategy.
Key Policy Areas
Health, Education
Primary Purpose
Creates multiple federal grant and award programs to expand the palliative care and hospice workforce by funding education programs, physician training, academic career awards, workforce development fellowships, and career incentive awards at medical, nursing, and allied health schools, while directing AHRQ to disseminate palliative care information and NIH to develop a cross-institute palliative care research strategy.
Policy Domains
Enhancing NIH Research in Palliative Care (Sec. 409K)
Identified Gains
- Palliative care researchers across NIH-funded institutions
- Patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses (long-term research benefits)
- NIH institutes working on cancer, heart, kidney, liver, lung, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases
Identified Costs
- NIH (must develop cross-institute strategy without specific new appropriations)
- Existing NIH research programs (potential reallocation of resources)
Dissemination of Palliative Care Information (Sec. 904)
Identified Gains
- Patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses
- Families and caregivers of patients with serious illnesses
- Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries
- Veterans
- Medically underserved populations
- Palliative care professional societies and advocacy organizations
Identified Costs
- AHRQ (development and dissemination of information materials)
- Department of Veterans Affairs (must post materials on website)
- CMS (must post materials on website)
- Administration on Aging (must post materials on website)
Hospice and Palliative Nursing Training (Sec. 832)
Identified Gains
- Schools of nursing
- Health care facilities providing palliative care
- CNA certification programs
- Nursing faculty
- Nursing students and practitioners in palliative care
Identified Costs
- Federal taxpayers ($5M/year FY2026-2030)
- HHS (grant administration)
Palliative Care and Hospice Education Programs (Sec. 759A)
Identified Gains
- Medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic)
- Nursing schools
- Social work, physician assistant, chaplaincy, psychology, and pharmacy education programs
- Junior faculty in palliative care (Academic Career Awards)
- Health professionals pursuing advanced palliative care degrees (Career Incentive Awards)
- Teaching hospitals and GME programs
- Patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses in underserved areas
- Pediatric palliative care populations
- Racial and ethnic minority populations
Identified Costs
- Federal taxpayers ($15M/year FY2026-2030)
- HHS (program administration, target-setting, grant oversight)
- Career incentive award recipients (5-year service commitment)
Clarification: Prohibition on Assisted Suicide Funding (Sec. 5)
Identified Gains
- Legislators concerned about assisted suicide (political cover for bipartisan support)
Identified Costs
- Grant recipients (must ensure compliance with funding restriction)
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeCommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.
Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Marshall, …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, …
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
CNA certification programs, Medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic), Nursing faculty in palliative care
Families and caregivers, Patients in rural and medically underserved areas, Patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses
Positive-direction: Families and caregivers, Patients in rural and medically underserved areas, Patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses, Veterans
Negative-direction: Taxpayers
Grant recipients under this Act, Health care facilities, Health care facilities providing palliative care
Positive-direction: Health care facilities, Health care facilities providing palliative care, Health professionals pursuing advanced degrees (Career Incentive Awards), Health professionals pursuing advanced palliative care degrees, Junior palliative care faculty, Junior palliative care faculty (Academic Career Awards)
Negative-direction: Grant recipients under this Act
AHRQ, NIH institutes (cancer, heart, kidney, liver, lung, infectious, neurodegenerative diseases), NIH institutes and centers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_director"
- → Director of AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services (or designee)
Note: {'term': 'The Secretary', 'resolution': 'Refers to the Secretary of Health and Human Services throughout Sections 2, 3, and 6'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
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