The Acts of Convention

Resolved, That the 73rd General Convention, mindful of the resolutions on health care of the 69th, 70th, and 71st General Conventions and the resolutions on Principles on the Prolongation of Life of the 70th and 71st General Conventions, call upon federal and state lawmakers to:

• Remove existing legal, financial, and regulatory obstacles to the provision of effective and comprehensive palliative care and pain and symptom management for persons approaching death;
• Enable timely referrals to hospice for persons approaching death;
• Promote the development of care grounded in the hospice model of care for those in the advanced stages of a chronic, degenerative illness who are not eligible for Medicare hospice coverage but whose illness has progressed to a point where supportive care related to foreseeable death would be appropriate and beneficial to them and to their families;
• Improve education and training in palliative care and pain and symptom management for health care professionals; and be it further

Resolved, That the 73rd General Convention call upon the health care professions to improve the quality of palliative care and pain and symptom management for those near the end-of-life by such measures as:

• Providing sufficient levels of pain-relieving or sedating medication for those approaching death to alleviate their pain and suffering, with their consent or that of their surrogate;
• Making timely referrals to hospice care.