II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 466 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 31, 2007 Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Mr. Nelson of Florida, and Mr. Lugar) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of an end-of-life planning consultation as part of an initial preventive physical examination under the Medicare program.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Medicare End-of-Life Care Planning Act of 2007.

2.

Medicare coverage of an end-of-life planning consultation as part of an initial preventive physical examination

(a)

In General

Section 1861(ww) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ww)) is amended— (1)in paragraph (1), by striking paragraph (2), and inserting paragraph (2) and an end-of-life planning consultation (as defined in paragraph (3)),; and (2)by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3)For purposes of paragraph (1), the term end-of-life planning consultation means a consultation between the physician and an individual regarding— (A)the importance of preparing advance directives in case an injury or illness causes the individual to be unable to make health care decisions; (B)the situations in which an advance directive is likely to be relied upon; (C)the reasons why the development of a comprehensive end-of-life plan is beneficial and the reasons why such a plan should be updated periodically as the health of the individual changes; (D)the identification of resources that an individual may use to determine the requirements of the State in which such individual resides so that the treatment wishes of that individual will be carried out if the individual is unable to communicate those wishes, including requirements regarding the designation of a surrogate decision maker (health care proxy); and (E)whether or not the physician is willing to follow the individual’s wishes as expressed in an advance directive. . (b)

Effective Date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to initial preventive physical examinations provided on or after January 1, 2008.