# 119-hr-3134: Emergency Care Improvement Act

119-hr-3134, Emergency Care Improvement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Arrington, Jodey C. [R-TX-19] (R-TX); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3134
- 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-3134
- Congress: 119
- Title: Emergency Care Improvement Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-05-01
- Sponsor: Rep. Arrington, Jodey C. [R-TX-19] (R-TX)
- Cosponsors: 15
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Recognize freestanding emergency centers as Medicare and Medicaid providers.** The bill would let these centers bill Medicare Part B and be covered by Medicaid for most emergency services while setting federal standards for staffing, governance, quality, payments, and EMTALA responsibilities. - Families and patients: Adds “specified emergency services” furnished by freestanding emergency centers to Medicare Part B and to the list of Medicaid-covered services. It excludes the lowest-acuity evaluation and management codes 99281–99282. - Providers and operators: Establishes a statutory definition and requires 24/7 physician staffing, hospital referral or admission arrangements, a governing body, and a continuous quality assessment program. Location rules limit qualifying facilities based on metropolitan or specific rural county criteria. - Payers and legal rules: Medicare payments for these services would be set like outpatient department payments and Medicaid would cover the same specified emergency services. The bill treats freestanding emergency centers as hospitals for EMTALA and extends physician self-referral prohibitions to FEC lab and imaging services, with the changes applying to items and services furnished on or after enactment.

## Cosponsors (15)

- Rep. Gonzalez, Vicente [D-TX-34] (D-TX), 2025-05-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Crenshaw, Dan [R-TX-2] (R-TX), 2025-05-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Van Duyne, Beth [R-TX-24] (R-TX), 2025-05-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10] (R-TX), 2025-07-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McCormick, Richard [R-GA-7] (R-GA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tenney, Claudia [R-NY-24] (R-NY), 2025-08-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Babin, Brian [R-TX-36] (R-TX), 2025-08-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kelly, Mike [R-PA-16] (R-PA), 2025-08-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14] (R-TX), 2025-08-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jackson, Ronny [R-TX-13] (R-TX), 2025-09-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cloud, Michael [R-TX-27] (R-TX), 2025-09-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pfluger, August [R-TX-11] (R-TX), 2025-10-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ruiz, Raul [D-CA-25] (D-CA), 2026-02-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moran, Nathaniel [R-TX-1] (R-TX), 2026-04-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Miller, Carol D. [R-WV-1] (R-WV), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Medicare and Medicaid cover freestanding emergency centers: benefit, medium. If enacted, Medicare Part B and Medicaid would cover specified emergency care at qualifying freestanding emergency centers. Centers would need a doctor on site 24/7, hospital referral agreements, a governing body, and a quality program. Location limits would apply: metro areas, or certain rural cou…
- Emergency care protections at freestanding centers: benefit, medium. If enacted, freestanding emergency centers would be treated like hospitals under federal emergency care rules. People who arrive at these centers would get the same screening and stabilization protections. This would apply to care on or after enactment.
- Medicare pays freestanding emergency centers like hospitals: mixed, low. If enacted, Medicare would pay for qualifying freestanding emergency center care using hospital outpatient payment rules. This could change what centers are paid and could change your copay for those visits. The bill does not set dollar amounts. The rule would apply to services on or after enactmen…
- Narrow self-referral exception at freestanding emergency centers: mixed, low. If enacted, some lab and imaging done at freestanding emergency centers during an emergency visit would fit a narrow doctor self‑referral exception. This could make it easier for centers to offer on‑site tests, but effects on patient costs are unclear. It would apply to services on or after enactme…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-1: One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-3134 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3134)

## Related
- [119-hr-1: One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1)
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1628)
- [119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1502)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3134 (as of 2026-09-21).