Dear Friend, In Congress, I try to focus on work that is not intensely partisan. There are dozens of common-sense issues that bring people together rather than divide them and can make a real difference in our communities. One of those issues is compassionate end-of-life care. For years I have fought to raise awareness to equip and inform families, and to encourage doctors to have those often difficult conversations with their patients, about a time of great stress and vulnerability: the end of life. I led the battle for the federal government to put a value on those discussions by adding end-of-life conversations to the list of services eligible for Medicare reimbursement. It took longer and was made more difficult by Sarah Palin’s lies about “death panels,” but nonetheless, we won that fight.  Now, doctors have the opportunity to invest their time and energy to have those difficult discussions. This work ultimately earned support from both parties. In the first year of implementation, these payment codes were used 570,000 times, and we’ve seen a 187% increase in utilization in the five years following.   I’m proud of our progress, but so much more needs to be done to protect our families.  I spoke about the importance of this work to Congress. Listen below: