Congress·In Committee·H.R. 2013

Medicare Home Health Accessibility Act

Congress Proposes Expanding Medicare to Allow Home Health Care Based on Occupational Therapy Needs

Mar 10, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

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StalledNext up: A house committeeNo action in 16 months

This bill is currently sitting in the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees. It has not moved since March 2025, which is a period of 15 months. It is considered stalled because the committees have not taken any action to advance it.

Legislative Progress

House

No action since March 2025

Senate

President

Law

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 7148 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 7148 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill would change Medicare rules so that people can qualify for home health care if they specifically need occupational therapy. Currently, patients usually must need physical therapy, speech therapy, or nursing care first before they can get any other help at home.
Occupational therapy helps people learn how to do daily tasks like getting dressed, bathing, or cooking after an injury or illness. By making this a primary reason for home health, more seniors could get the specific help they need to stay safe and independent in their own houses.
If this becomes law, the new rules would start on January 1, 2026. This change aims to fix a gap in coverage that sometimes prevents patients from getting home care if their main struggle is with daily living activities rather than walking or medical treatments.

Healthcare

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works

Programs

This bill would expand Medicare home health eligibility by making occupational therapy a standalone qualifying service. Currently, patients must first need skilled nursing, physical therapy, or speech therapy before Medicare covers home health care — even if their primary need is occupational therapy. This change means seniors who mainly struggle with daily living tasks like bathing, dressing, or cooking could directly qualify for home health services, closing a long-standing coverage gap. The impact is limited to the subset of Medicare beneficiaries who need home-based occupational therapy but don't currently qualify under existing rules.

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Disabilities

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Mar 10, 2025House

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.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Mar 10, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

No votes, news coverage, or related bills recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Medicare Home Health Accessibility Act

Bill NumberHR 2013

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred 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.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(25)

D: 13R: 12

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.