H.R. 538

Summary

H.R. 538, the Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2025, was introduced in the House on Jan 16, 2025 by Rep. Adrian Smith (R) with 2 co-sponsors. It was referred to Ways And Means, and last saw action on Jan 16, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Record

Text

H.R. 538 has 2 co-sponsors.

119 HR 538 IH: Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2025
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-01-16
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 538  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   January 16, 2025   Mr. Smith of Nebraska  (for himself and  Ms. Sewell ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Ways and Means    A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement for inpatient critical access hospital services.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2025  .
2.
Removing Medicare 96-hour physician certification requirement for inpatient critical access hospital services
(a)
In general
Section 1814(a) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395f(a) ) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (6), by adding  and  at the end;
(2)
in paragraph (7), at the end of subparagraph (E), by striking  ; and  and inserting a period; and
(3)
by striking paragraph (8).
(b)
Application
The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to items and services furnished on or after January 1, 2026.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Sponsors

Rep. Adrian Smith (R) sponsors H.R. 538, and 2 members have co-sponsored it, 1 of them from the day it was introduced.

Adrian Smith

Rep. · R–NE-3 · Sponsor

Introduced Jan 16, 2025

Terri Sewell

Rep. · D–AL-7 · Co-sponsor

Joined Jan 16, 2025 · Original

Jack Bergman

Rep. · R–MI-1 · Co-sponsor

Joined Oct 24, 2025

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Committees

H.R. 538 went before 1 committee: Ways and Means.

Ways and Means

Ways and Means

Referred To · Jan 16, 2025 · 1,160 Bills

Actions

H.R. 538 has taken 2 actions since Jan 16, 2025.

Votes

H.R. 538 has not gone to a roll call.

Titles

H.R. 538 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

• Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2025 — Display Title
• Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Introduced
• To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove the 96-hour physician certification requirement for inpatient critical access hospital services. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

8 clients hired 8 firms and 60 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 538 in 29 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Health Issues, Medicare/Medicaid, Budget/Appropriations, Pharmacy, Immigration, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Insurance, Education.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 60.

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 538 under Health, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 6 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 538’s is Health.

Legislative Subjects

H.R. 538 carries 6 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Health care coverage and access to Rural conditions and development.

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com