Loading…
H.R. 7966119th CongressIn committeeLatest action Mar 17, 2026Decoded by AI · checked against the record
The plain-language version leads. The official text is always the reference.
HR 7966 freezes new Medicare hospice enrollments for 5 years and shifts payments from flat daily rates to per-visit charges.
55-second read · 4 questions answered below
HR 7966 imposes a five-year freeze on new hospice companies joining Medicare, with exceptions for underserved areas, and requires all existing hospice programs to re-verify their enrollment information. The bill also restructures Medicare hospice payments, moving away from a flat daily rate toward a system that pays per visit for direct care such as nursing or therapy. Starting in 2028, hospice companies must give Medicare 90 days advance notice before changing ownership.
Medicare patients nearing the end of life and their families are directly affected, as are hospice companies and the doctors and nurses who work in hospice care. Doctors with financial ties to a hospice company will no longer be permitted to certify that a patient is terminally ill.
The payment restructuring and enrollment freeze alter the financial and regulatory conditions under which hospice providers operate within Medicare. Patients who enroll in hospice will receive written notice of their benefits and fraud-reporting contacts, and inspections of newer or suspicious programs will become more frequent.
AI-drafted summary. Verify it against the official text before you act on it. Read the official bill on Congress.gov
Right now: a House committee is reviewing it. If the Senate changes it, it goes back to the House before reaching the President.
Latest action: — Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.