# 119-hr-2936: Addressing Boarding and Crowding in the Emergency Department

119-hr-2936, Addressing Boarding and Crowding in the Emergency Department, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Joyce, John [R-PA-13] (R-PA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2936
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-2936
- Congress: 119
- Title: Addressing Boarding and Crowding in the Emergency Department
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-04-17
- Sponsor: Rep. Joyce, John [R-PA-13] (R-PA)
- Cosponsors: 34
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Reduce emergency department boarding by modernizing public health data and testing new emergency care models.** This bill would fund grants to track hospital bed capacity and ED boarding dynamics, expand CMS Innovation Center pilots for older adults and acute psychiatric crises, and require a Comptroller General study with a one-year report to Congress. - Older adults and people in acute psychiatric crisis would be the focus of new CMS Innovation Center models testing geriatric-focused staffing, ED infrastructure and protocols, dedicated psychiatric ED units, and improved transfers to post-acute care. - Hospitals, EMS, and public health agencies would be eligible for grants or cooperative agreements to build or upgrade real-time data systems tracking bed capacity, ED boarding rates, wait times, and EMS offload times, plus a public-facing dashboard with privacy redaction. - The Comptroller General would study best practices for statewide, near real-time capacity systems that integrate with hospital electronic health records and assess impacts on boarding, wait times, and EMS offload times and report to Congress within one year.

## Cosponsors (34)

- Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] (D-MI), 2025-04-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15] (D-NY), 2025-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Amodei, Mark E. [R-NV-2] (R-NV), 2025-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC), 2025-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI), 2025-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large] (D-DE), 2025-08-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Crow, Jason [D-CO-6] (D-CO), 2025-08-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Matsui, Doris O. [D-CA-7] (D-CA), 2025-08-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Auchincloss, Jake [D-MA-4] (D-MA), 2025-08-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1] (R-GA), 2025-08-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC), 2025-08-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA), 2025-09-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Obernolte, Jay [R-CA-23] (R-CA), 2025-10-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO), 2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL), 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-04-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Green, Al [D-TX-9] (D-TX), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Magaziner, Seth [D-RI-2] (D-RI), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2] (R-SC), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-15] (R-PA), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Keating, William R. [D-MA-9] (D-MA), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44] (D-CA), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Rutherford, John H. [R-FL-5] (R-FL), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Underwood, Lauren [D-IL-14] (D-IL), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Stevens, Haley M. [D-MI-11] (D-MI), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Miller-Meeks, Mariannette [R-IA-1] (R-IA), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14] (D-FL), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Foushee, Valerie P. [D-NC-4] (D-NC), 2026-07-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA), 2026-07-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Amo, Gabe [D-RI-1] (D-RI), 2026-07-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5] (D-NJ), 2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR), 2026-09-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Track hospital beds and emergency room waits: benefit, medium. If enacted, the government could award grants to build state or regional, real-time systems to track hospital bed capacity. Systems would track how capacity affects emergency room boarding and wait times for treatment. They would also track ambulance offload times. Grantees could run a public dashb…
- Better emergency care for seniors and crisis patients: benefit, low. If enacted, the CMS Innovation Center would test new ways to improve emergency care for older adults and people in psychiatric crisis. Models could try flexible, team-based staffing and more staff training. They could update the ER layout and use senior-focused policies and quality measures. Models…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-6130: ASAP Act
- 119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1065: Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-2936 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2936)

## Related
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3514)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-6130: ASAP Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6130)
- [119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-909)
- [119-hr-1065: Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1065)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2936 (as of 2026-09-21).