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Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) Reintroduced / C-TAC Policy Updates

  • The legislation well known as PCHETA (Palliative Care and Hospice Education Training Act) was reintroduced by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on May 19. The legislation is described on Congress.gov as “a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, social work schools, and other programs, including 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.” C-TAC and many of its members and other coalitions have a long and somewhat frustrating history of supporting this important legislation. The House has passed the bill in a previous Congress only to have the Senate drop the ball just prior to a HELP Committee mark-up. The Build Back Better Act passed by the House also includes the bill and so did the Senate draft of BBB. A House standalone version of PCHETA has not been introduced this Congress. If you would like to request your Senator co-sponsor the bill, here is a link to the bill and a link to the Hospice Action Network Legislative Action Center.
  • On April 26, Representative Robin Kelly (D-2nd-IL), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, introduced H.R. 7585, the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) “a comprehensive and strategic legislative roadmap that aims to eliminate racial and ethnic health inequities.” The bill includes measures to strengthen health data collection and research, expand access to mental health care, and diversity the health care workforce. Here are the press release and the bill.
  • The White House, the House, and the Senate are spending much of their spring examining the mental health crisis and developing legislative and administrative solutions. On May 10, Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced legislation, the Mental Health Reform Reauthorization Act of 2022 (S.4170), which would reinvigorate the 2016 Mental Health Reform Act due to expire this September. Here are the Cassidy press release and the bill. Here is the link to a May 19, Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing titled Mental Health Care for Older Adults: Raising Awareness, Addressing Stigma, and Providing Support.
  • On May 17, the Long-Term Quality Alliance (LTQA), the SCAN Foundation, and ATI Advisory held a virtual briefing and released a policy report “Fulfilling the Promise of the CHRONIC Care Act: Policy Recommendations for Congress to Advance New Supplemental Benefits in Medicare Advantage.” The Act has provided Medicare Advantage health plans with the flexibility to cover non-medical health-related benefits. C-TAC and others believe community-based non-medical supports and services are essential to ensuring that individuals with serious illnesses receive care that reflects their needs and preferences. Congress is considering updates to the CHRONIC Care Act, which became law in 2018, and Senator Warner (D-VA) was on hand for the briefing to weigh in on the importance of this work and the need to continue to improve on the Act. Here are the links to the briefing and the report.