HB5138: Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2023
- 1Introduced (current step)
- 2Passed One Chamber
- 3Passed Both Chambers
- 4Became Law
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Bill information
Summary
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital stay requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare, and for other purposes.
Plain-language summary
This bill would change how Medicare counts time spent in hospitals toward the requirement for skilled nursing facility coverage. Currently, Medicare requires patients to stay at least three days as an inpatient in a hospital before Medicare will pay for follow-up care in a nursing facility. The bill would allow time spent receiving outpatient observation services—care given to patients who are being monitored but not formally admitted as inpatients—to count toward this three-day requirement. The bill has been introduced in Congress with bipartisan support but has not yet been voted on.
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HB5138: Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2023
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Sponsors
Joe Courtney
Primary SponsorCo-sponsors (25)
Glenn Thompson
Suzan DelBene
Ron Estes
Steve Cohen
Jerrold Nadler