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Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026
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 requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare.
Summary
This bill amends Medicare rules regarding eligibility for skilled nursing facility coverage. Currently, Medicare requires patients to spend at least 3 days as hospital inpatients to qualify for coverage of subsequent skilled nursing facility services. The bill allows time spent receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital to count toward this 3-day requirement, treating the observation period as if it were an inpatient stay. The change applies to observation services received on or after January 1, 2026, and can also apply retroactively to earlier periods through the appeals process.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
5 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- May 21, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
- May 21, 2026 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 21, 2026
Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Welch, and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
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 requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. COUNTING A PERIOD OF RECEIPT OF OUTPATIENT OBSERVATION SERVICES IN A HOSPITAL TOWARD THE 3-DAY INPATIENT HOSPITAL 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. <all>
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