# 119-hr-3954: Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025

119-hr-3954, Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] (D-CT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-30).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3954
- As of: 2026-09-30
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-3954
- Congress: 119
- Title: Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-06-12
- Sponsor: Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] (D-CT)
- Cosponsors: 49
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-30

## Summary

**Deems outpatient observation time as inpatient days for the Medicare 3-day hospital-stay rule for skilled nursing facility (SNF) coverage.** This change would let outpatient observation periods count toward the hospital stay needed to qualify for Medicare-covered SNF care.

## Cosponsors (49)

- Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI), 2026-09-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-15] (R-PA), 2025-06-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA), 2025-06-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Estes, Ron [R-KS-4] (R-KS), 2025-06-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Golden, Jared F. [D-ME-2] (D-ME), 2025-07-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] (D-CA), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Doggett, Lloyd [D-TX-37] (D-TX), 2025-09-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC), 2025-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (D-WI), 2025-10-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Nunn, Zachary [R-IA-3] (R-IA), 2025-10-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sánchez, Linda T. [D-CA-38] (D-CA), 2025-10-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Suozzi, Thomas R. [D-NY-3] (D-NY), 2025-10-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Smith, Adrian [R-NE-3] (R-NE), 2025-10-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC), 2025-10-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8] (D-VA), 2025-10-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5] (D-NJ), 2025-11-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kennedy, Timothy M. [D-NY-26] (D-NY), 2025-11-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32] (D-TX), 2025-11-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Schneider, Bradley Scott [D-IL-10] (D-IL), 2025-12-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Horsford, Steven [D-NV-4] (D-NV), 2025-12-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Rutherford, John H. [R-FL-5] (R-FL), 2025-12-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mann, Tracey [R-KS-1] (R-KS), 2025-12-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4] (D-CA), 2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Amo, Gabe [D-RI-1] (D-RI), 2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI), 2026-02-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (D-PA), 2026-02-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8] (D-MA), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-02-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Meuser, Daniel [R-PA-9] (R-PA), 2026-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8] (D-MD), 2026-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Larsen, Rick [D-WA-2] (D-WA), 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10] (D-FL), 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (D-NY), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large] (D-DE), 2026-06-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] (D-NY), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fields, Cleo [D-LA-6] (D-LA), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17] (D-PA), 2026-06-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bynum, Janelle S. [D-OR-5] (D-OR), 2026-06-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carter, Troy A. [D-LA-2] (D-LA), 2026-07-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA), 2026-07-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gonzalez, Vicente [D-TX-34] (D-TX), 2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Stanton, Greg [D-AZ-4] (D-AZ), 2026-08-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA), 2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4] (D-PA), 2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Walkinshaw, James R. [D-VA-11] (D-VA), 2026-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI), 2026-09-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Observation time counts toward Medicare nursing home: benefit, high. If enacted, this bill would treat time you spend receiving outpatient observation services as inpatient time for Medicare. That time would count toward the 3-day hospital stay Medicare requires to pay for skilled nursing facility (nursing home) care. The rule would apply to observation that begins…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-2048: Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act
- 119-hres-1641: Honoring the contributions of Indian Americans and supporting the designation of July as "Indian American Heritage Month".
- 119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-3954 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3954)

## Related
- [119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3514)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-2048: Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2048)
- [119-hres-1641: Honoring the contributions of Indian Americans and supporting the designation o…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hres-1641)
- [119-hr-1993: 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1993)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3954 (as of 2026-09-30).