DHHS Will Pay You $75 to Register Your Advance Directive

Under the Medicare Choices Empowerment and Protection Act (S. 2240), which was introduced this month, the Department of Health & Human Services will pay Medicare beneficiaries $75 to register their advance directives.  



As I have reviewed before, most legislative and regulatory attempts have tried to promote advance care planning by paying clinicians more.  Those efforts failed.  In contrast, the instant bill focuses on providing financial incentives to the beneficiaries themselves.



Basically, DHHS will develop accreditation criteria and accredit certain providers of advance directives.  Once a beneficiary has adopted a certified advance directive, she can register it under the DHHS program and earn the incentive payment.