New rules would identify hospitals serving many low-income patients, helping them get targeted support.
This bill would create an official definition for "essential health systems" — hospitals that care for a lot of Medicaid and low-income Medicare patients. It would also require a government commission (MACPAC) to list these hospitals and suggest ways to support them. This aims to ensure these essential health systems can keep providing care.
Today, there is no official government definition for "essential health system" in the Social Security Act, and no specific requirement for MACPAC to track or recommend policies for these hospitals. If this bill becomes law, it would create a clear definition for "essential health system" based on specific patient care numbers, and MACPAC would be required to identify, list, and study ways to support these hospitals every year.
HR 7145 · 119th Congress · January 16, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 8/10
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7 filings mentioned this bill
Amounts reflect total quarterly lobbying spend reported to the Senate, not bill-specific spending. Source: Senate LDA filings.