Empowering Patient Choice of Medical Care Act

The "Empowering Patient Choice of Medical Care Act" aims to eliminate the inpatient-only service list , a regulatory mechanism that currently restricts certain medical procedures to inpatient hospital settings. This legislative change is set to take effect on January 1, 2026, with the goal of providing patients with greater flexibility and choice regarding where they receive their medical care. Under this bill, the Secretary of Health and Human Services would be prohibited from refusing to designate an outpatient hospital service solely on the basis that it was previously determined to be safely furnished only in an inpatient setting. This provision seeks to broaden the range of medical services available in outpatient facilities, potentially enhancing patient access to care, fostering competition among providers, and influencing overall healthcare costs by allowing more procedures to be performed in less expensive settings.