S. 4641 · 119th Congress
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026
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R
CollinsSponsor6 cosponsors · 4 D, 2 R
2 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
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.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · May 21, 2026
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026
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.)
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026
Latest action (May 21, 2026): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Policy area: Health · Origin: Senate · Introduced: May 21, 2026
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.