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H.R. 3954

U.S. House•In House Committee

Summary

H.R. 3954, the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025, was introduced in the House on Jun 12, 2025 by Rep. Joe Courtney (D) with 46 co-sponsors. It was referred to Ways And Means, and last saw action on Jun 12, 2025: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Record

Text

H.R. 3954 has 46 co-sponsors.

hb3954/introduced-in-house.txt
119 HR 3954 IH: Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-06-12
 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. 3954  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   June 12, 2025   Mr. Courtney  (for himself,  Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania ,  Ms. DelBene , and  Mr. Estes ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Ways and Means , and in addition to the Committee on  Energy and Commerce , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned   A BILL
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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025  .
2.
Counting a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward the 3-day inpatient hospital stay requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under medicare
(a)
In general
Section 1861(i) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395x(i) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:  For purposes of this subsection, an individual receiving outpatient observation services shall be deemed to be an inpatient during such period, and the date such individual ceases receiving such services shall be deemed the hospital discharge date (unless such individual is admitted as a hospital inpatient at the end of such period). .
(b)
Effective date
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to receipt of outpatient observation services beginning on or after January 1, 2026, but applies to a period of post-hospital extended care services that was completed before the date of the enactment of this Act only if an administrative appeal is or has been made with respect to such services not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services may implement such amendment through an interim final regulation, program instruction, or otherwise.

Tracker

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

  1. Introduced2025-06-12
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

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

Introduced in House Jun 12, 2025

hb3954/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (06/12/2025)

Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025

This bill deems an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital as an inpatient for purposes of satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital-stay requirement with respect to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility (SNF) services. (Generally, individuals must have been an inpatient at a hospital for at least three days in order to qualify for SNF services. An individual's time spent under observation at a hospital for purposes of determining whether the individual should be admitted does not count towards this requirement.)

Sponsors

Rep. Joe Courtney (D) sponsors H.R. 3954, and 46 members have co-sponsored it, 3 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 3954 went before 2 committees: Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means.

Energy and Commerce
Energy and Commerce
Referred To · Jun 12, 2025 · 1,636 Bills
Ways and Means
Ways and Means
Referred To · Jun 12, 2025 · 1,160 Bills

Actions

H.R. 3954 has taken 2 actions since Jun 12, 2025.

ChamberAction
Jun 12, 2025
House
Introduced in House
Jun 12, 2025
House
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.Ways and Means Committee

Votes

H.R. 3954 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to H.R. 3954.

Titles

H.R. 3954 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025 — Display Title
  • Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • 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. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

6 clients hired 6 firms and 47 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 3954 in 16 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 Medicare/Medicaid, Health Issues, Budget/Appropriations, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Immigration, Retirement, Government Issues, Housing.

Clients

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

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
SOCIETY OF HOSPITAL MEDICINEOrganization representing hospitalists and the practice of hospital medicinePennsylvania15$200K
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE—District of Columbia15—
AARP—District of Columbia12—
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION—District of Columbia12—
DIRECT SUPPLY, INC.—Wisconsin11—
MEDLINEMedical product manufacturing and distributionIllinois11—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
CHAMBER HILL STRATEGIES15$200K
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE15—
AARP12—
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION12—
DIRECT SUPPLY, INC.11—
MEDLINE11—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 47.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
ANNE MONTGOMERY115
DAN ADCOCK115
JENNIFER BELL115
LUCAS WARREN115
MAX RICHTMAN115
ZACHARY SCHULZ115
JENNIFER HOLLAND114
KATHRYN MEADOWS113
SHAWN FRIESEN113
ABIGAIL ROSE112
ANDREW DONNELLY112
ANDREW SCHOLNICK112
APRIL CANTER112
BEVERLY GILYARD112
BLAKE KELLY112
BRENDAN ROSE112
CHAD MULLEN112
CHRISTOPHER DONNELLAN112
CLARK FLYNT-BARR112
CLIFTON PORTER112

Filings

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

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AARPAARP2025 fourth_quarter$5.3M4th Quarter - Report
AARPAARP2025 third_quarter$3.8M3rd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATIONAMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION2026 second_quarter$840K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATIONAMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION2026 first_quarter$790K1st Quarter - Report
MEDLINEMEDLINE2026 second_quarter$400K2nd Quarter - Report
DIRECT SUPPLY, INC.DIRECT SUPPLY, INC.2026 second_quarter$230K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARENATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE2026 second_quarter$210K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARENATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE2025 third_quarter$210K3rd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARENATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE2025 second_quarter$200K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARENATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE2026 first_quarter$190K1st Quarter - Report
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARENATIONAL COMMITTEE TO PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE2025 fourth_quarter$190K4th Quarter - Report
SOCIETY OF HOSPITAL MEDICINECHAMBER HILL STRATEGIES2026 second_quarter$40K2nd Quarter - Report
SOCIETY OF HOSPITAL MEDICINECHAMBER HILL STRATEGIES2026 first_quarter$40K1st Quarter - Report
SOCIETY OF HOSPITAL MEDICINECHAMBER HILL STRATEGIES2025 fourth_quarter$40K4th Quarter - Report
SOCIETY OF HOSPITAL MEDICINECHAMBER HILL STRATEGIES2025 third_quarter$40K3rd Quarter - Report
SOCIETY OF HOSPITAL MEDICINECHAMBER HILL STRATEGIES2025 second_quarter$40K2nd Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 3954 under Health, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 3954’s is Health.

hr3954/policy-areas.txt
HealthAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 3954, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 101 (Thursday, June 12, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. COURTNEY:H.R. 3954.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1, Section 8[Page H2822]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com