WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released a statement after the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule today that will allow Medicare to reimburse physicians and other qualified providers for time spent discussing plans for end-of-life care with patients and their families:

“By confirming that it will reimburse for advance care planning in accordance with the recommendation of the American Medical Association, CMS has taken an important step forward in moving the conversation around end-of-life care beyond political scare tactics,” Sen. Warner said. “Advance care planning is about expanding patient choice, giving patients and their families the opportunity to make their wishes known and trust that they will be honored. This is an important step but there’s more that Congress must do to provide appropriate support, public education, provider training, and quality measures. I intend to continue pushing for the Care Planning Act, which will further empower patients to make informed choices about their own care.”

On June 10, Sens. Warner and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), along with four bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Care Planning Act, designed to give people with serious illness the freedom to make more informed choices about their care, and the power to have those choices honored. Their bipartisan legislation would further efforts to strengthen end-of-life care by developing quality measures, promoting public and provider education, addressing the decision-making for people with serious illness throughout the process, and including adherence and portability measures to ensure that patients’ choices are honored.

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