YourVoice.Now Summary
Civil LibertiesHospitals and nursing homes that take Medicare would have to let in the clergy you ask for, from 2028.
Civil Liberties
If you ask for them by name, a hospital or nursing home that takes Medicare would have to let in your pastor, priest, rabbi, imam, or other faith leader. Meeting the rule would be a condition of taking Medicare.
In an emergency the government can set aside many Medicare rules, as it has during past health crises. This visit right would stay in place anyway, though safety steps could still apply.
More about this bill
If you go into a hospital or nursing home, you could ask to see your own clergy. The place would have to let that person in. The right would start January 1, 2028. It would cover any provider that takes Medicare, which is most hospitals and nursing homes. It would hold even when emergency rules let the government waive normal requirements. Visits could still follow safety steps. Health officials would write those steps with providers, states, and religious groups.
Congressional Summary
Protecting Access to Spiritual Treatment and Organized Religion Act of 2026 or the PASTOR Act of 2026This bill requires, as a condition of Medicare participation, health care providers to allow a clergy member access to a patient upon the patient's designation and request.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-07-22
- Date Added
- 2026-08-26
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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