YourVoice.Now Summary
Corporate BenefitsAverage Household ImpactRural Medicare and Medicaid patients could see specialists by telehealth under a required new federal test program.
Corporate Benefits
- Provider-network eligibility bar — Limited to nonprofits with 50+ clinics and a multi-region record
Average Household Impact
- Specialty care access in rural areas — Telehealth model required for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP patients
The details
Medicare's innovation center would be required to test a new way to deliver specialist care. Patients in rural and underserved areas would see specialists through telehealth and other remote technology. Their own primary care provider would stay involved and coordinate the care. People on Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP could take part if they live in a qualifying area. The network running the model must include at least 50 federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, or rural emergency hospitals. At least half must be rural. It must be a nonprofit with a track record serving rural and underserved communities in multiple regions. The bill adds no new money. Funding stays subject to existing limits on community health center programs.
Congressional Summary
Ensuring Access to Specialty Care Everywhere Act or the EASE ActThis bill requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a model that uses a network of providers to remotely furnish specialty health care to Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries in rural areas.To conduct the model, the CMMI must select at least one provider network that is a nonprofit entity and that consists of at least 50 federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, or rural emergency hospitals. At least half of the providers in the network must be located in rural areas. Providers must use digital methods (e.g., telehealth technology) to provide specialty care and must coordinate with beneficiaries' primary care providers.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-04-02
- Date Added
- 2026-07-25
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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