| JurisdictionCalifornia | StatusIn effect or in use | Key detailShow details and sources | DateImplementationJan 1, 2026 |
| JurisdictionIllinois | StatusProposed or pendingMoving in the last 12 months | Key detailShow details and sources | DateImplementationJan 1, 2027 |
| JurisdictionMaryland | StatusIn effect or in use | Key detailShow details and sources | DateEffectiveMay 1, 2025 |
| JurisdictionMassachusetts | StatusIn effect or in use | Key detail2 rows on record. Show all and sourcesMassachusetts palliative care and end-of-life counseling rightsEffective, Effective Aug 6, 2012 Massachusetts law creates a patient-information pathway around palliative care and end-of-life options for certain terminally ill patients. Who it affects: terminally ill patients, family caregivers, clinicians, hospice teams, palliative care providers Why it matters: Caregivers often need earlier, clearer conversations about goals, symptom management, hospice, palliative care, and care setting choices before a crisis discharge. Last reviewed Jun 18, 2026 Massachusetts health care proxy authorityEffective, Effective Dec 19, 1990 Massachusetts gives adults a statutory route to appoint a health care agent who can make medical decisions if the person cannot make or communicate them. Who it affects: adults planning future care, family caregivers, health care agents, clinicians, serious illness patients Why it matters: Caregivers often need clear legal authority before hospitals, clinicians, or facilities will accept decisions during incapacity or serious illness. Last reviewed Jun 18, 2026
| DateEffectiveAug 6, 2012 |
| JurisdictionNew Jersey | StatusIn effect or in use | Key detail3 rows on record. Show all and sourcesNew Jersey end-of-life complaint and MAID compliance routesActive, Implementation Aug 5, 2025 NJDOH states that MAID compliance forms and medication dispensing records must be filed with the Department of Health through the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner. NJDOH also identifies hospice centers as facilities under Department jurisdiction for official care complaints, with an online complaint form and 24-hour complaint hotline. Who it affects: terminally ill adults, family caregivers, hospice patients, hospice providers, attending physicians Why it matters: End-of-life care raises both quality-of-care and legal-process questions. Families and providers need separate routes for hospice complaints, MAID documentation, and Medicare-affiliated grievances without treating GiveCare as an adjudicator. Last reviewed Jul 4, 2026 New Jersey palliative, hospice, and POLST guidanceActive, Implementation Jan 21, 2025 NJDOH's palliative and hospice page describes palliative care as patient- and family-centered care across the continuum of illness and hospice as comfort-focused support for terminal illness, usually at home, with family caregiver support. NJDOH's POLST page explains that the form records life-sustaining-treatment preferences and follows the patient across settings. Who it affects: people with serious illness, terminally ill people, family caregivers, patient surrogates, clinicians Why it matters: Caregivers often need to distinguish palliative care, hospice, POLST, and advance directives before a crisis admission or discharge. This row gives the corpus an official New Jersey guidance anchor without turning it into medical or legal advice. Last reviewed Jul 4, 2026 New Jersey Medical Aid in Dying ActEffective, Effective Aug 1, 2019 P.L.2019, c.59 created New Jersey's Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act. NJDOH summarizes that the law became effective August 1, 2019 and allows an adult New Jersey resident with capacity, determined by attending and consulting physicians to be terminally ill, to obtain medication the patient may self-administer. Who it affects: terminally ill adults, family caregivers, attending physicians, consulting physicians, health care facilities Why it matters: MAID is a high-risk end-of-life legal topic. The corpus needs the statute and official DOH summary as anchors before any caregiver-facing explanation of eligibility, safeguards, forms, or facility participation. Last reviewed Jul 4, 2026
| DateImplementationAug 5, 2025 |
| JurisdictionNew York | StatusIn effect or in useMoving in the last 12 months | Key detail5 rows on record. Show all and sourcesNew York Medical Aid in Dying implementationEffective, Effective Aug 5, 2026 Medical aid in dying is moving into an implementation window, with patient-request safeguards, provider participation rules, and Department of Health preparation work becoming operational concerns. Who it affects: terminally ill adults, family caregivers, clinicians, hospice teams Why it matters: Families and care organizations need plain-language explanation before the effective date, especially around eligibility, documentation, opt-outs, referrals, and caregiver roles. Last reviewed Jun 17, 2026 New York health care proxy family decision guidanceActive, Implementation Jul 4, 2026 NYSDOH's public guidance and form explain health care proxy planning, while New York Public Health Law authorizes a competent adult to appoint a health care agent and gives that agent authority, subject to limits, to make health care decisions and receive medical information needed for informed decisions. Who it affects: adults planning care, family caregivers, health care agents, patient representatives Why it matters: Caregivers need a clear boundary between informal caregiving, hospital discharge caregiver designation, and formal health care agent authority before a crisis makes documentation urgent. Last reviewed Jul 4, 2026 New York palliative, hospice, advance-care-planning, and MOLST guidanceActive, Implementation Jul 4, 2026 NYSDOH's Center for Hospice and Palliative Care frames hospice, palliative care, advance care planning, and MOLST as related but distinct planning paths. NYSDOH palliative care materials say palliative care can apply at any stage of serious or chronic illness, the hospice consumer page explains hospice settings and services, the advance care planning page defines written wishes for future medical care, and the MOLST page explains statewide medical orders for life-sustaining treatment. Who it affects: people with serious illness, terminally ill people, family caregivers, patient surrogates, clinicians Why it matters: Caregivers need to distinguish comfort-focused hospice, symptom-focused palliative care, future-care wishes, and portable medical orders before a hospital discharge or crisis decision. Last reviewed Jul 4, 2026 New York MAID physician reporting proposed rulesProposed, Comments due Aug 3, 2026 NYSDOH announced a public comment period for proposed regulations establishing physician reporting requirements under the Medical Aid in Dying law. The proposed rulemaking would add Medical Aid in Dying physician reporting provisions to Title 10 NYCRR. Who it affects: terminally ill adults, family caregivers, attending physicians, consulting physicians, pharmacists Why it matters: MAID implementation will turn on documentation, reporting, provider participation, and transfer rules. This row gives the corpus a separate compliance-watch anchor without treating proposed reporting rules as already final. Last reviewed Jul 4, 2026 New York Serious Illness Care Equity Act proposalActive, Vote Mar 6, 2026 Proposed legislation would operationalize a statewide advance care planning public awareness campaign and create community-based outreach grants. Who it affects: serious illness patients, family caregivers, older adults, immigrant-serving organizations, community-based organizations Why it matters: Advance planning burden often falls on families late; multilingual community navigation could make proxy and care-preference documentation more reachable. Last reviewed Jun 18, 2026
| DateEffectiveAug 5, 2026 |
| JurisdictionOregon | StatusIn effect or in use | Key detail2 rows on record. Show all and sourcesOregon Death with Dignity Act reportingEffective, Implementation Jun 17, 2026 Oregon continues to publish annual reporting for the Death with Dignity Act, making it a long-running implementation and data model for medical aid-in-dying policy. Who it affects: terminally ill adults, family caregivers, clinicians, hospice teams Why it matters: As New York and other states implement MAID laws, Oregon's reporting model helps explain safeguards, utilization, and family-facing administrative questions. Last reviewed Jun 18, 2026 Oregon advance directive and health care representative formsEffective, Effective Sep 25, 2021 Oregon provides statutory advance directive and representative appointment forms that people can use to record preferences and appoint someone to make health care decisions. Who it affects: adults planning future care, family caregivers, health care representatives, clinicians, serious illness patients Why it matters: Caregivers need a clear representative pathway when serious illness, dementia, or disability leaves someone unable to speak for themselves. Last reviewed Jun 18, 2026
| DateImplementationJun 17, 2026 |
| JurisdictionWashington | StatusIn effect or in use | Key detailShow details and sources | DateEffectiveJan 1, 2026 |
