Legislation: Tammy Baldwin and S.2080 PCHETA

Legislation: Tammy Baldwin and S.2080 PCHETA Name Institutional Affiliation Legislation: Tammy Baldwin and S.2080 PCHETA The S.2080 Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) is key to addressing the harm that chronic diseases are causing to Wisconsin. For every 2 adults, at least 1 has one or more chronic illness such as heart disease, depression, or cancer. For every 3 adults, about 1 live with at least two chronic ailments (PFCD, 2019a). Meanwhile, the burden of chronic diseases is projected to cost Wisconsin $768 billion between 2016 and 2030 (PFCD, 2019b). Out of this cost, the annual loss in employee productivity is estimated at $13.9 billion while an extra $37.2 billion constitute annual medical costs. The PCHETA is meant to ease the burden of chronic diseases by making nursing schools, osteopathic and allopathic medical colleges, and social work schools have a higher number of permanent faculty as a way of expanding the workforce of palliative care providers to meet the increasing demand for better care and lower costs (Library of Congress, 2019). By promoting research and education in palliative care and hospice, the constituents will benefit from permanent and effective palliative programs because more resources will be channeled in this field of care. The benefits of equitable allocation of resources will translate into less hospitalization of patients and more cost savings. Patients will also experience less emotional distress because the palliative care will be reliable, mor...