# 119-hr-5940: Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act of 2025

119-hr-5940, Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5940
- 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-5940
- Congress: 119
- Title: Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-11-07
- Sponsor: Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA)
- Cosponsors: 47
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Would prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from implementing the WISeR prior authorization model in Medicare.** It would also name the bill the 'Seniors Deserve Streamlined Medical Approvals for Timely, Efficient Recovery Care Act of 2025' or the 'Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act of 2025'. - Seniors and Medicare beneficiaries: Keeps the current Medicare prior-authorization rules, so beneficiaries would not face the specific WISeR prior-approval process described in the cited notice. - Health care providers: Prevents Medicare from testing the WISeR model that would require additional prior authorizations for select services, so providers would not need to adapt to that model. - Federal health agencies and policymakers: Limits the Secretary's ability to implement the WISeR model or any substantially similar model, constraining this specific path for payment and service delivery reform.

## Cosponsors (47)

- Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] (D-CT), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (D-MN), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bera, Ami [D-CA-6] (D-CA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8] (D-WA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Larsen, Rick [D-WA-2] (D-WA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Budzinski, Nikki [D-IL-13] (D-IL), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14] (D-FL), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] (D-MI), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Frankel, Lois [D-FL-22] (D-FL), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1] (D-IL), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (D-WA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] (D-CT), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6] (D-WA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Schneider, Bradley Scott [D-IL-10] (D-IL), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12] (D-CA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] (D-WA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Stanton, Greg [D-AZ-4] (D-AZ), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10] (D-WA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4] (D-CA), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Veasey, Marc A. [D-TX-33] (D-TX), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17] (D-CA), 2025-11-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY), 2025-11-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Balint, Becca [D-VT-At Large] (D-VT), 2025-11-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32] (D-TX), 2025-11-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC), 2025-11-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA), 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3] (D-OH), 2025-12-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME), 2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-01-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Walkinshaw, James R. [D-VA-11] (D-VA), 2026-01-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4] (D-VA), 2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV), 2026-02-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10] (D-CA), 2026-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL), 2026-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-8] (D-CA), 2026-04-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI), 2026-04-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51] (D-CA), 2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sánchez, Linda T. [D-CA-38] (D-CA), 2026-05-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray [D-CA-31] (D-CA), 2026-06-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3] (D-AZ), 2026-07-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10] (D-FL), 2026-07-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gonzalez, Vicente [D-TX-34] (D-TX), 2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24] (D-FL), 2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Blocks WISeR prior authorization in Medicare: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would prohibit HHS from implementing the WISeR model in Medicare. The WISeR model is described in a Federal Register notice (90 Fed. Reg. 28749, July 1, 2025). This would bar new WISeR-style prior authorization, payment, or service-delivery changes for Medicare services. Medica…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act
- 119-hr-15: Equality Act
- 119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025
- 119-hr-17: Paycheck Fairness Act
- 119-hr-1810: Safe Schools Improvement Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-5940 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5940)

## Related
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5390)
- [119-hr-15: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-15)
- [119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1589)
- [119-hr-17: Paycheck Fairness Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-17)
- [119-hr-1810: Safe Schools Improvement Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1810)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5940 (as of 2026-09-21).