Lawmakers press RFK Jr. for stronger oversight of physician-assisted suicide in hospice care

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to increase oversight of physician-assisted suicide, arguing that stronger monitoring is needed to protect vulnerable patients and ensure compliance with federal law.

Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., joined Reps. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., and Lou Correa, D-Calif., wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz calling for new reporting requirements related to physician-assisted suicide within Medicare-certified hospice programs.

In the letter, the lawmakers said they support efforts to improve end-of-life care but warned that physician-assisted suicide presents "serious concerns regarding coercion, discrimination, and patient safety."

"We write to encourage HHS and CMS to ensure that the Medicare program protects patients from coercion, abuse, and discrimination while complying with longstanding federal law prohibiting the use of federal funds for assisted suicide," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter noted that many individuals who seek physician-assisted suicide are enrolled in hospice care, arguing that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure those patients are adequately protected.

"The federal government has a compelling interest in ensuring that all patients—particularly those who are elderly, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable—receive care free from coercion, abuse, neglect, or discrimination," the lawmakers wrote.

They urged HHS and CMS to require hospice providers to report data on issues like allegations of coercion, whether patients were denied life-sustaining treatment while being offered physician-assisted suicide, adverse events tied to lethal medications, and whether providers are complying with federal restrictions on taxpayer funding for assisted suicide.

The lawmakers also raised disability rights as an issue to examine,

"Disability rights advocates have consistently warned that physician-assisted suicide laws may place individuals with disabilities at heightened risk of discrimination and subtle coercion," the letter said. "Federal oversight is necessary to ensure these individuals are afforded equal protection and meaningful safeguards."

The lawmakers also questioned whether existing state safeguards are adequately protecting patients from outside pressure.

"Without meaningful oversight and transparent reporting, it is impossible to know whether vulnerable individuals are making truly voluntary decisions or whether external pressures—including financial concerns, inadequate access to care, or family influence—are affecting these life-ending decisions," the lawmakers wrote.