Loading…
S. 3473119th CongressIn committeeLatest action Dec 15, 2025Decoded by AI · checked against the record
The plain-language version leads. The official text is always the reference.
S 3473 creates a voluntary Medicare online system for advance directives, affecting ~67 million enrollees; must launch within 5 years.
50-second read · 4 questions answered below
S 3473 establishes a voluntary program within Medicare that lets enrollees create, store, update, or cancel advance directives through a secure online system. Covered documents include living wills and durable powers of attorney for health care. The system must be operational within five years of enactment, and the Medicare website would also post links to official and alternative advance directive forms for every state.
The roughly 67 million Americans enrolled in Medicare are directly affected, including adults 65 and older and some younger people with disabilities. Participation is entirely optional and no one is required to create an advance directive.
Approved service providers would be required to meet security and privacy standards, follow state validity laws, allow near-instant online document access, and conduct annual user surveys. The federal program does not override state laws, so existing state rules governing what makes an advance directive legally valid continue to apply.
AI-drafted summary. Verify it against the official text before you act on it. Read the official bill on Congress.gov
Right now: a Senate committee is reviewing it. If the House changes it, it goes back to the Senate before reaching the President.
Latest action: — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.