by Thaddeus Pope
Ed note: There is much work still to do in Washington State. There has been political resistance in the State Senate, but some work is being carried out in this direction. A National Registry would be a great step forward.
Several states have state registries for advance directives and/or POLSTs. But we may someday have a federal nationwide registry. Spain already has one.
The Legacy Act of 2025 (H.R. 5861) directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement with the National Academies to conduct a study on establishing and maintaining a national, confidential, and secure system for storing and retrieving by an authorized agent a last wish document of an individual, at no cost to such individual.
The term “last wish document” includes— (A) an advance directive; (B) an organ donor registration; (C) a healthcare or medical proxy; (D) a power of attorney; or (E) a living will.