WASHINGTON, DC - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today issued the following statement after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized codes for advance care planning in the upcoming final 2016 Physician Fee Schedule, which would allow physicians to be reimbursed for these services. Advanced care planning helps patients and their families discuss end-of-life medical care preferences with their providers.
“Patients and their families will now be able to voluntarily decide to have an appointment to discuss important end-of-life care with their health care providers. Under legislation passed in 1990, providers were required to inform patients and their families regarding the availability under State law of legal instruments concerning end-of-life care. Families should be able to talk-through and understand these medical decisions with a knowledgeable practitioner of their choosing. By finalizing these codes today, the Administration has taken a meaningful step forward in access to advance care planning, helping patients make informed decisions deemed best by them and their families."
Last week, Rep. Levin and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) led a letter with eight other Ways and Means Committee members to CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt, urging the agency to finalize these codes as soon as possible.
