The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has approved its 2025 state budget that includes outlays to support palliative care services for children.
The state’s budget included $14.7 million for maternal and child health, including $10.4 million for pediatric palliative care services for terminally ill children. It also updated the state’s policy to allow people to receive those services through age 22.
“This budget takes a fiscally responsible approach to making meaningful investments in areas of significant need. I’m proud of the fact that the FY25 budget allocates key funding to better support Massachusetts students and families, to increase access to affordable health care and to provide for a safer and more reliable public transportation system,” said Massachusetts House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy).
The funding is intended to support expanded palliative care services for seriously and terminally ill children amid rising demand. Currently, many children are placed on waitlists for care without enough providers in the state to address existing needs.
In 2022, the state’s legislature earmarked $8.7 million for the program, up from $6.5 million in 2021.
Children and families in Massachusetts access these services through providers in the state’s Pediatric Palliative Care Network, which provides care for youths facing life-limiting illnesses. Services provided through the program include consultation for pain and symptom management, nursing services, mental health counseling, family support and bereavement care.
“As we grapple with rising costs and access challenges within the Massachusetts health care system, I am especially proud that this budget utilizes tools to maximize our health care dollars for the facilities and providers that serve our most vulnerable residents,” State Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), vice chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, said in a statement. “I am thankful to the leadership and my colleagues across the legislature for their dedicated work to put forward a robust final budget that will benefit all of Massachusetts.”
