Sen. Coons Leads Bipartisan Push to Track Hospital Bed Openings and Reduce ER Wait Times
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Many people experiencing acute psychiatric crises rely on Medicaid for their care. The bill's pilot program to create dedicated psychiatric units in ERs and speed up transfers to longer-term facilities could reduce the hours or days Medicaid enrollees spend boarding in emergency rooms waiting for a psychiatric bed.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have sponsored the Addressing Boarding and Crowding in the Emergency Department (ABC-ED) Act to tackle the high volume of patients stuck in ERs. The bill authorizes data collection on patient volumes and supports real-time hospital bed tracking systems.
Bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Chris Coons and David McCormick would fund research into lengthy ER waits and hospital bed tracking. The ABC-ED Act aims to alleviate 'boarding' where patients are queued in emergency rooms for days due to lack of inpatient capacity.
The article discusses the profound impact of ER boarding on patient safety and nurse burnout. It highlights the ABC-ED Act as a federal solution that would modernize bed tracking and implement Medicare pilot programs for psychiatric and geriatric patients.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
ABC-ED Act of 2025
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