Trends in state palliative care legislation across the US

Trends in state palliative care legislation across the US
JAMA Network; by Na Ouyang, Ling Han, Wendy Jiang, Stacie Sinclair, Eugene Rusyn, Shelli L. Feder; 10/24/25
More than 13.7 million people in the US could benefit from palliative care. Yet, access is uneven due to workforce shortages, low public awareness, variability in service availability, and federal delays. Although states play a pivotal role in shaping health policy, the extent of their legislative efforts regarding palliative care is unknown. Using data from the Palliative Care Law and Policy GPS, a database developed by the Yale Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy in partnership with the Center to Advance Palliative Care, we examined trends in the introduction and enactment of state-level palliative legislation, categorized legislative content, and mapped distribution across states and regions from 2009 to 2023... States introduced 819 pieces of legislation during the study period, peaking in 2018. States most frequently introduced quality/standards, public awareness, and payment policies. States that introduced the most legislation included Massachusetts with 111 pieces, New York with 72, and New Jersey with 61.