S. 4945 (116th): Compassionate Care Act

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Proposed by Senator Richard Blumenthal, who proposed an identical bill in 2016, the bill would have created a federal funded national education campaign about the importance of advanced care planning, invested in physician training for advanced care planning, set quality standards for advanced care planning and would have explored the possibility of creating a national registry for advance directives.

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The bill would have addressed several barriers to better use of advanced care planning. For example, a 2018 survey found that only 29% of physicians have had training in advance care planning.

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Although over a dozen healthcare organizations endorsed the bill, it was never brought to a vote.