WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement today on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposal to provide a Medicare benefit for end-of-life care:

“I am so pleased that the conversation around advanced care planning has moved away from scare tactics. Physician reimbursement is an important first step. Moving forward, the Care Planning Act provides a strong, bipartisan foundation for Congress as we consider how to further empower patients to make informed choices about their own care. It’s not about limiting any patient’s choices, but expanding them by making sure that people have the opportunity to make their wishes known and can trust that they will be honored.”

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.