This bill would require hospitals, critical access hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals to report intensive care unit (ICU) bed availability in real time as a condition of participation in Medicare. Hospitals must join a shared data reporting system that shows how many ICU beds are available to other participating hospitals in the same region. They must also keep a shared plan with nearby hospitals to transfer patients when ICU capacity is reached or nearly reached. The Secretary of Health and Human Services would set the regions, taking into account geography, population, and travel time between hospitals. The reporting requirement would begin one year after the bill becomes law. The bill also amends a public health preparedness grant program to include activities for efficient patient transfer and extends certain grant years through fiscal 2026–2031.
No publicly available information on cost estimates. The bill does change a preparedness grant program to include patient-transfer activities and extends grant coverage for fiscal years 2026 through 2031, but it does not provide public estimates of implementation or operating costs.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.