Empowering Patient Choice of Medical Care Act
Sponsored By: Representative Spartz
Introduced
Summary
Expanding outpatient access for Medicare patients is the bill’s core aim. The bill would bar the Secretary of Health and Human Services from refusing to label a hospital service as a Medicare outpatient service solely because it has only been provided in an inpatient setting.
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- Medicare beneficiaries: More procedures and tests could be available on an outpatient basis, increasing patient choice and access starting January 1, 2026.
- Hospitals and clinicians: Providers could seek outpatient designation for services historically done only as inpatient, which may shift some care to outpatient settings.
- Medicare program: The bill would limit the Secretary’s discretion under current Medicare law without creating new funding or changing other benefits or eligibility.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
More Medicare services could be outpatient
Starting January 1, 2026, HHS would not be able to deny outpatient status for a hospital service only because it says the service must be inpatient for safety. This would effectively end the inpatient-only rule for deciding outpatient status. More procedures could be billed as outpatient. If that happens, where you get care and what you pay could change.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Spartz
IN • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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