# The Simon Crosier Act: What You Need to Know

This bill creates new rules for hospitals and health insurance plans that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. Specifically, it sets strict requirements for how doctors must handle "do-not-resuscitate" (DNR) orders for children under 18 who are not legally independent. A DNR order tells medical staff not to perform CPR or other emergency life-saving measures if a child's heart stops or they stop breathing.

The core requirement is that doctors cannot put a DNR order in place for a minor without first getting permission from at least one parent or legal guardian. The doctor must make a genuine effort to contact and inform both parents if possible, giving them at least 72 hours to respond. This notification must happen both in person or by phone and in writing, unless there's a genuine medical emergency. Everything must be documented in the child's medical records, including who was contacted, when, and how. If a parent or guardian refuses to allow a DNR order, the hospital cannot override that decision—the child must continue receiving life-sustaining treatment. Parents also get a 15-day window to request transferring their child to a different hospital if they disagree with the doctor's recommendation for a DNR order, and the original hospital must keep the child on life support during that transfer period.

The bill also protects children with disabilities by stating that a disability alone cannot be the reason for a DNR order. Doctors cannot decide that a child's life is less valuable because of a disability. Any decision to limit life-saving treatment must be based on objective medical evidence that the treatment is physically impossible or futile, not on judgments about quality of life or disability status. These protections apply to all hospitals, nursing homes, and managed care organizations that accept Medicare or Medicaid payments.

Simon Crosier Act

LaTurner, Jake

Simon Crosier Act This bill requires hospitals and other health care providers, as a condition of Medicare and Medicaid participation, to have certain written policies and procedures in place that limit the implementation of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders for unemancipated minors in accordance with specified criteria. Among other provisions, such policies and procedures must (1) require the informed consent of at least one parent and a reasonable attempt to contact the other parent before instituting a DNR order, (2) allow either parent to refuse to consent to a DNR order, and (3) allow a parent to transfer a minor to another facility after being informed of an intent to institute a DNR order.