Media Contact
If you are a member of the press and would like to know more about the Campaign to End Unwanted Medical Treatment, please contact media@endumt.org.
Washington, DC – Today the Campaign to End Unwanted Medical Treatment applauded the introduction of the Care Planning Act of 2015 by Senators Warner (D-VA) and Isakson (R-GA), and joined as original co-sponsors by Senators Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
The Warner/Isakson Care Planning Act will help ensure that patients’ wishes are respected by providing Medicare reimbursements to health care professionals for voluntary and structured discussions about treatment options with persons with serious illness.
Brian Lindberg, Campaign Coordinator, stated, “In far too many instances individuals face a health care system that ignores their care goals and preferences. We can – and must – do better. The Campaign supports the Care Planning Act because it takes major steps toward ensuring that Medicare supports and pays for advance care planning discussions for persons to discuss and document their end-of-life care wishes with their health care professional team. Congress has an important role in this issue and it should act quickly to enable Medicare and all federal health programs to pay for the these consultations, and put programs in place to measure whether providers are following a documented care plan that reflects patients’ priorities.”
The Campaign, whose 19 collaborators are some of the nation’s leading organizations fighting to improve care for an aging population, believes that care delivered for those with advanced illness or nearing the end of life must be consistent with that person’s goals, values, preferences and wishes. The Campaign to End Unwanted Medical Treatment is dedicated to ensuring patients and consumers receive the medical care they want…nothing less and nothing more.
Please feel free to contact Brian Lindberg at brian@consumers.org with questions or comments.