Take Action: Tell your senators to reject harmful cuts to health care!
This week, the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees met to review bills that aim to reduce coverage restrictions and costs for select services for certain Medicare beneficiaries. These important goals are, however, undermined by some components of the bills.
One of the pieces of proposed legislation considered, H.R. 842, would provide coverage without cost-sharing for emerging blood-based cancer screening services. But only people under 68 in 2028 would be eligible for that coverage. This limitation is not based on clinical factors—indeed, the age limit increases over time. Medicare Rights strongly opposes such arbitrary limitations on access to reasonable and necessary services and urges Congress to instead work to ensure that everyone with Medicare can get the appropriate, high-quality services they need.
Another bill considered, H.R. 5343, would require Medicare to automatically cover all Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–designated medical breakthrough devices during a four-year transitional period, bypassing Medicare’s obligation to determine what services are “reasonable and necessary” under what circumstances, for Medicare beneficiaries. This evaluation is essential for protecting patient safety, consumer integrity, and programmatic integrity.
Importantly, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has, as of 2024, established a specific, accelerated pathway for the evaluation and coverage of breakthrough devices that retains Medicare’s important role in ensuring that covered devices meet the statutory “reasonable and necessary” standard.
Efforts to reduce these problems must not create artificial divisions between Medicare beneficiaries.
We applaud Congress’s attention to the issues Medicare beneficiaries face, including coverage restrictions and affordability challenges that prevent people from accessing the services and medications they need to build and maintain health. But efforts to reduce these problems must not create artificial divisions between Medicare beneficiaries or undermine key patient safety and fraud-prevention functions.
We welcome thoughtful, respectful discussion on our website. To maintain a safe and constructive environment, comments that include profanity or violent, threatening language will be hidden. We may ban commentors who repeatedly cross these guidelines.
Donate today and make a lasting impact.
Sign up to receive Medicare news, policy developments, and other useful updates from the Medicare Rights.
View this profile on InstagramMedicare Rights Center (@medicarerights) • Instagram photos and videos
4 Comments on “House Committees Mark Up Medicare Bills That Aim for Improvements, but Have Unintended Consequences ”
Michael King
September 18, 2025 at 4:05 pmthey need to work on more important things,,,,,,,,,,,,,like the COBRA BILL HR 2744 and HR 4206 ( telehealth) or Senate Bill 2625 ( broker bill vs call centers)
Geff Ratcheson
September 18, 2025 at 8:17 pmI don’t trust republicans.
Geff Ratcheson
September 18, 2025 at 8:17 pmI don’t trust republicans.
TAMIE L. CYRUS
September 28, 2025 at 6:26 amIF AND WHEN THIS HAPPENS, I’M LOSING ALL THE WAY AROUND!! I BARELY GET BY AS IT IS !! I SAW THE CHANGES TO MY HUMANA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AND IT IS AN OUT RAGE DISAPPOINT!! I’VE BEEN WITH THEM FOR 20 YEARS AND THE PRICES OF EVERYTHING ARE BEYOND MY REACH !! FRUSTRATED AND UPSET !! THAT I HAVE TO FIND A NEW PLAN ALL OVER AGAIN THAT COVERS ALL MY SPECIALIST AND MEDICATIONS!!!