HR 4425119th CongressIn Committee

Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act

Introduced: Jul 16, 2025

Sponsor: Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1] (R-Georgia)

EducationHealthcare

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

This bill, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act, would significantly expand the federal role in palliative and hospice care education, workforce development, and research. It creates new grant programs to establish and operate palliative care education programs across medical, nursing, social work, physician assistant, chaplaincy, and related fields; expands training for physicians in palliative medicine; establishes Academic Career Awards to foster faculty careers in palliative/hospice care; and adds fellowships and incentive programs to grow the palliative care workforce. It also broadens nursing education funding to include hospice/palliative nursing, creates a new interprofessional training program under a separate funding stream, requires dissemination of palliative care information by federal agencies, and directs NIH to develop a cross-institutional research strategy to advance palliative care. The bill authorizes specific appropriations for several programs (e.g., $15 million annually for 2026-2030 under the new education/training programs; $5 million annually for 2026-2030 for nursing and other program funding; $0.5+ billion? No, the bill specifies NIH-focused expansion but not a single total), with an effective date roughly 90 days after enactment for the education/training provisions. Overall, the aim is to increase the number of permanent palliative care faculty, expand interprofessional education, and strengthen research and public information on palliative care.

Key Points

1Creation of new Palliative Care and Hospice Education Programs (Sec. 759A): establishes or funds entities to train health professionals in palliative/hospice care, with interprofessional components, community-based activities, and non-duplication safeguards; priorities emphasize rural/underserved areas, pediatrics, and minority populations; supports integration with primary care and other specialties; allows expansion of existing programs.
2Expanded Palliative Medicine Physician Training: authorizes grants/contracts to medical/osteopathic schools, teaching hospitals, and GME programs to support interprofessional, team-based palliative medicine training; requires fellowship-based training options (1-year retraining or 1-2 year programs) and performance measures; emphasizes rotations across care settings and base in an ACGME-accredited fellowship program.
3Palliative Care and Hospice Academic Career Awards: creates a program to provide awards to promote academic careers in palliative/hospice care for eligible individuals with junior faculty appointments; includes service obligations (minimum 5-year teaching/practice requirement after award) and requires institutions to fund a majority of time for teaching/education work.
4Palliative Care Workforce Development and Career Incentive Awards: funds fellowships to upgrade the skills of current faculty and other health professionals (across nursing, social work, PA, psychology, chaplaincy, pharmacy, etc.); sets caps (awards up to $150,000 per program; up to 24 programs); includes maintenance of effort provisions to supplement, not supplant, existing funds.
5Nursing and Education Expansion; Information Dissemination; and NIH Research Enhancement: expands hospice/palliative nursing education (Sec. 831(b)(3)); adds a new Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Program under Part D (Sec. 832) to fund curricula, faculty training, and continuing education across health-related settings; authorizes funding for these activities ($5 million annually 2026-2030); creates a new mandated Dissemination of Palliative Care Information (Sec. 904) to inform patients, families, and health professionals via federal websites and targeted materials; and establishes a cross-cutting NIH strategy (Sec. 409K) to expand and coordinate palliative care research across NIH institutes, with updated reporting to include palliative care research starting 2026.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Health professionals across multiple disciplines (medicine, nursing, social work, chaplaincy, pharmacy, psychology, physician assistants) who educate or provide palliative and hospice care.- Academic institutions (allopathic/osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, and other programs) hosting or developing palliative/hospice education and training.- Patients and families with serious or life-threatening illnesses, particularly in rural/underserved areas, pediatric populations, and racial/ethnic minority groups, who stand to gain from expanded access to trained palliative care providers and integrated care.Secondary group/area affected- Health systems, hospices, hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, and community-based organizations implementing interprofessional palliative care training and service delivery.- NIH researchers and research programs, due to the new cross-INSTITUTE strategy and expanded reporting on palliative care research.- Federal agencies and professional societies involved in education, dissemination, and standards for palliative care, given the information dissemination and consultation requirements.Additional impacts- Workforce growth and capability: more permanent faculty and trained practitioners in palliative/hospice care could improve care quality, patient symptom management, care coordination, and integration of palliative care across settings.- Access and equity: explicit priorities for rural/underserved areas, pediatrics, and minority populations may improve access to palliative care for historically underserved groups.- Public information and awareness: broader dissemination of information could increase understanding of palliative care benefits and services among patients, families, and providers.- Fiscal considerations: several new grant programs are authorizations of appropriations (e.g., $15 million annually for 2026-2030; $5 million annually for 2026-2030; and NIH-related expansion), which will require congressional funding and annual appropriation decisions; implementation will depend on agency priorities and program integrity to avoid duplication.“Serious or life-threatening illness” is used throughout; the bill seeks to define or clarify it via consultation but primarily to guide eligibility and dissemination targets.“Interprofessional team-based palliative care” refers to care delivered by a coordinated team from multiple health professions working together with the patient and family.

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