Medicare bill would let enrollees store advance directives online
In committeeS. 3473Latest action
Sponsor: Bill Cassidy · Senator · LA
AIDecoded by AI · checked against the recordRead the official text
Official title: MAP for Care Act
119th Congress
Topics: Health care
Introduced:
Read the official bill on Congress.govIn plain words
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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
What does this do?
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.
Who does it affect?
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.
Why does it matter?
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.
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Read the official bill on Congress.govMake the call
Where does it stand?
- IntroducedDec 15, 2025
- Senate committeeYou are here · Dec 15, 2025
- Senate vote
- House
- The president's desk
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.