I am off to Washington, D.C., today to visit Capitol Hill with a group of hospice leaders and the National Alliance for Care at Home. This is part of the Alliance’s annual advocacy week event.
One of the things I plan to ask about on the Hill is the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA).
PCHETA is designed to bolster the hospice and palliative care field’s shrinking workforce through stronger federal support of staff training, education and awareness, as well as enhanced research. If enacted, the latest iteration of the legislation would help to establish more hospice and palliative care internships, clinical fellowships and interdisciplinary training opportunities, among other things.
Lawmakers have introduced the legislation several times, but it has not passed. Most recently, Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) resurrected PCHETA in 2025. Reps. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) and Dr. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) brought forth a companion bill in the House around that same time.
Note, looking at the sponsors’ affiliations, that the bill has bipartisan support.
If enacted, the legislation would support hospice and palliative care training programs for nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers and chaplains. The bill would also expand continuing education and career development programs and incentives in these fields.
Among its goals is to generate healthcare cost savings through reduced hospitalizations that would presumably come with increased access to hospice and palliative care. It also includes provisions that emphasize family caregiver engagement and education around the services included in hospice and palliative care delivery.
Also note I said “most recently” a few paragraphs ago. To me, few bills better illustrate the distance between bipartisan agreement, common-sense policy and congressional action.
By my count, PCHETA has been introduced in eight different Congresses, beginning in 2012 and continuing through the current 119th Congress. There have been at least 14 individual bills in the Senate and House.
These are a handful of the questions I plan to ask in D.C.:
What do you hope the bill would achieve, if enacted?
Are there plans to revive PCHETA?
What are the obstacles to getting it passed?
What are the “tailwinds” behind the bill?
I have a few others, but these will form the “gist” of the conversation.
This is an essential bill to address a crushing problem that affects hospice providers’ sustainability and patients’ access to care. We need to see this become law. Hospice and palliative care providers need relief, and the burgeoning senior population needs care.
Of course, I also plan to discuss hospice program integrity and related legislation. Stay tuned for more on Hospice News.
By the way, I also posted a note on this asking how the staffing shortage has affected your organizations. Please respond there or drop a comment here to let me know what you think.