ALS Better Care Act

Key Points

• This bill would change how Medicare pays for care for people with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). It creates a new $800 payment for clinics to provide a team of experts, including physical therapists, speech experts, and specialized nurses, all in one visit.
• Patients would not have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for these specific ALS services. This is meant to make it easier for families to afford the complex, multi-doctor care that the disease requires as it progresses.
• The policy aims to help specialized ALS clinics stay open and improve their services. Currently, many clinics struggle because Medicare does not pay enough to cover the cost of having many different specialists working together for one patient.
• Starting in 2027, the payment would be $800 per visit and would go up every year to keep up with rising medical costs. Clinics that participate in research trials to find a cure would also get extra funding to help cover their higher costs.
• The government would also be required to study why it is so hard to staff and run ALS clinical trials. This report would help find ways to speed up the search for new treatments and make it easier for patients in rural areas to get care through video appointments.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.