Who it affects
- Medicare patients receiving hospital observation services
In committeeHealth careMedicare
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025
H.R. 3954 · House bill · Introduced June 12, 2025
The Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2025 would count hospital observation time toward Medicare’s three-day inpatient hospital stay requirement for patients needing skilled nursing facility care.
At a glance
Where it stands
In committee
How South Carolina voted
No recorded votes yet.
See each vote ↓Lobbying and money
No lobbying reported yet
Lobbyists report every three months, about 20 days after each quarter ends. We have January 2025 through September 2026 reports. Newer reports will be added once filed and published.
What it would do
- Medicare generally requires a three-day inpatient hospital stay before covering skilled nursing facility care.
- Time spent under hospital observation currently does not count toward that requirement.
- The bill would count hospital observation time as inpatient time toward the three-day requirement.
Written with AI from the official summary by Congress's research office.
How South Carolina voted
No recorded roll-call vote on this bill yet.
Groups that lobbied on it and gave to SC's members
PAC, lobbyist campaign and qualifying employee money this election, shown separately and never added together. Lobbying reports name the bills a group worked on, not which side it took.
No lobbying reported yet. Lobbyists report every three months, about 20 days after each quarter ends. We have January 2025 through September 2026 reports. Newer reports will be added once filed and published.
Official record
Official title, sponsor and status
- Official title
- 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.
- Sponsor
- Rep. Courtney, Joe (D-CT)
- Introduced
- June 12, 2025
- Cosponsors
- 49
- Committees
- House Energy and Commerce Committee; House Ways and Means Committee
- Latest action
- June 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.
Official summary from the Congressional Research Service
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.)
Summary on Congress.gov ↗Everyone who lobbied on this bill (0 groups)
No lobbying report we have loaded names this bill. That doesn't mean no lobbying took place.
Lobbyists report every three months, about 20 days after each quarter ends. We have January 2025 through September 2026 reports. Newer reports will be added once filed and published. Reports for October through December 2026 are due January 20, 2027.