Advance Directives Education Act of 2005

The Advance Directives Education Act of 2005 (S. 570) aims to help Americans better document and communicate their end-of-life medical preferences. If passed, the bill would require healthcare providers under Medicare and Medicaid to offer patients the opportunity to discuss advance directives, such as living wills or healthcare proxies, and would require states to recognize these documents even if they were originally signed in a different state.

For the average citizen, this legislation would make it easier to access information about end-of-life planning through a new national toll-free clearinghouse and through information provided at state departments of motor vehicles, similar to organ donor registration programs. Additionally, the bill directs the government to study the feasibility of a national registry for advance directives to ensure a person's medical wishes are accessible to doctors regardless of where they receive care.