# 119-s-1629: Same Care, Lower Cost Act

119-s-1629, Same Care, Lower Cost Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2025-12-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1629
- As of: 2025-12-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1629
- Congress: 119
- Title: Same Care, Lower Cost Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-05-06
- Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2025-12-21

## Summary

**Would create site-neutral Medicare Part B payments for many ambulatory services.** It would align payment rates across hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers starting in 2027. - Hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and other specified ambulatory settings would be paid a site-neutral rate for services identified in certain ambulatory payment classifications. The Secretary would identify no fewer than 66 APCs for 2027 and may add more as clinically appropriate. - Emergency department visits, critical care visits, and trauma visits at hospital outpatient departments would be reclassified as Comprehensive APCs. All items and services on the same claim for those visits would be packaged into one payment and excluded from the site-neutral APC list. - The bill would direct the Secretary to consider the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommendations in MedPAC’s June 2023 Chapter 8 report when selecting APCs. It would also prohibit the Secretary from counting spending changes resulting from the site-neutral rule when calculating certain payment adjustments for 2027 and later.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Medicare: same pay for outpatient care: mixed, medium. This bill would make many Medicare outpatient services paid the same no matter where you get them. It would start in 2027. The Secretary would have to pick at least 66 ambulatory payment classifications (APCs) for site-neutral rates. The Secretary could add more APCs as clinically appropriate and m…

## Related bills

- 119-s-688: Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025
- 119-s-4952: Protecting American Taxpayers Act
- 119-s-4378: Protecting American Taxpayers Act
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-4065: STAND with Taiwan Act of 2026
- 119-s-3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-1629 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1629)

## Related
- [119-s-688: Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-688)
- [119-s-4952: Protecting American Taxpayers Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4952)
- [119-s-4378: Protecting American Taxpayers Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4378)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-4065: STAND with Taiwan Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4065)
- [119-s-3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3492)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1629 (as of 2025-12-21).