The Hospital Adoption Education Act of 2025 requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop and distribute accessible resources - such as digital tools and print materials - to help hospital staff understand adoption sensitivities and interact appropriately with prospective birth mothers and adoptive families. It mandates that the Secretary create an online resource hub for healthcare workers and establish a committee of adoption experts, including maternal health and child welfare professionals, to guide this effort. The bill also funds grants to nonprofit organizations providing non-directive adoption education to hospital staff, prohibiting entities tied to child-placing agencies or abortion services from receiving these funds. Finally, it requires a congressional report within three years assessing how many hospitals adopt the training and how many staff complete it.
The Break the Cycle of Violence Act establishes federal grants to fund community-based violence intervention programs that aim to reduce gun violence through evidence-based strategies. It creates a National Community Violence Response Center to coordinate efforts and provide technical assistance, while directing funding to communities disproportionately affected by violence, particularly those with high homicide rates. The bill includes provisions for hospital-based violence intervention programs, trauma-informed services, and job training programs for opportunity youth (ages 16-25 not in education or employment) to address root causes of violence. Funding for these programs totals $300 million in 2026, increasing to $700 million annually through 2033 for the Department of Health and Human Services, plus $1.5 billion for job training programs through the Department of Labor.
This bill amends the Social Security Act to remove an exclusion for rural facilities primarily treating mental health conditions from Medicare coverage. It specifically changes Section 1861(aa)(2) by deleting the phrase "or a facility which is primarily for the care and treatment of mental diseases," allowing these facilities to qualify for Medicare reimbursement. The change directly affects rural behavioral health centers specializing in mental health care that were previously excluded. The amendment takes effect on January 1, 2027, enabling these facilities to access federal Medicare funding for services.
The CATCH IT Act (HR 5858) increases federal funding for rural health facilities by raising the federal share of costs for preventative health care equipment by 25 percentage points under the Community Facilities Grant Program. It specifically covers equipment like advanced breast imaging, mobile cancer screening units, cancer screening lab tools, colorectal screening devices, CT scanners, and diagnostic ultrasound equipment. This applies to facilities developing new projects or upgrading existing ones to include these technologies, aiming to improve access to preventative care in rural areas. The policy change takes effect in the first federal fiscal year after the bill is enacted.
This bill removes a longstanding Medicaid barrier that excluded coverage for mental health care in specialized hospitals (IMDs) for people under age 65. It amends the Social Security Act to eliminate age restrictions in key Medicaid provisions, allowing Medicaid to cover institutional mental health services for all adults, regardless of age. Specifically, it strikes out "65 years of age or older" from multiple sections governing Medicaid eligibility and benefits for IMD care. The change takes effect on October 1, 2025, directly expanding access to Medicaid-covered mental health hospital care for younger adults currently excluded.
This bill increases Medicare reimbursement rates for rural remote patient monitoring (RPM) services by setting a minimum floor of 1.00 for practice expense and malpractice indices starting in 2026, directly benefiting rural clinics and providers in areas with health care shortages. It requires RPM providers to respond to data anomalies, share patient vitals with electronic health records, and report data to track Medicare savings. The bill mandates a two-year report analyzing cost savings from reduced hospital stays and better medication adherence among beneficiaries using RPM. These changes specifically target improving access to RPM for rural Medicare patients with chronic conditions like heart failure and diabetes.
The SAFE Drugs Act of 2026 restricts pharmacies, facilities, and physicians from compounding more than 20 times in a single month for out-of-state patients any drug that is essentially a copy of a commercially available product (e.g., containing the same active ingredient without a significant patient-specific difference). It requires these providers to submit annual reports to the federal government detailing the types of drugs compounded and the frequency for such out-of-state compounding, with reports due by year-end. The bill also mandates initial and biennial inspections for large-scale compounding facilities (those compounding over 100 times yearly) and adjusts the base fee for compounding registration to be set by the Secretary. Hospital pharmacies are exempt from the reporting requirement.
HR 751, the HEALTH Panel Act, creates a 15-member Panel of Health Advisors within the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to enhance its analysis of health care policy. The panel provides technical expertise on CBO's health-related studies, cost estimates for health legislation, and health components in budget publications, and issues annual reports to congressional budget committees. Members, appointed by congressional leadership and the CBO Director with expertise in health finance, economics, and related fields, serve staggered three-year terms. The bill aims to improve the objectivity and depth of the CBO's health policy analysis without directly changing health programs or affecting constituents.
HR 612, the Health Care Providers Safety Act of 2025, provides federal funding to help health care facilities improve safety. It authorizes the Secretary to award grants to hospitals, clinics, and other health care providers to cover costs for physical security (like structural improvements) and cyber security (such as data privacy tools and video surveillance systems). These grants directly help health care providers protect their facilities, staff, and patients from security threats. The bill creates a new funding mechanism under the Public Health Service Act, making specific security upgrades eligible for federal support.
This bill requires hospitals to bill Medicare and other insurers using separate unique identifiers for off-campus outpatient departments (starting January 1, 2026), rather than treating them as part of the main hospital. It removes exceptions that allowed hospitals to bill higher rates for services at off-campus locations, mandating that these departments use specific billing forms (HIPAA X12 837P or CMS 1500) with their own identifiers. The bill directly affects hospitals operating off-campus departments, Medicare, and health insurance issuers, ensuring claims for these locations are processed accurately. It also directs the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to develop model regulations helping insurers reject improper claims. The key change is standardizing billing to prevent overcharging for off-campus services.
