I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 219
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to codify patients’ rights
to hospital visitation, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY9, 2023
Mr. V
ANDREW(for himself, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, and Mr. HARRIS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was 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
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to codify
patients’ rights to hospital visitation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Patient Left Alone 4
Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. PATIENT VISITATION RIGHTS. 6
Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 7
1395x) is amended— 8
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•HR 219 IH
(1) in subsection (e)— 1
(A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 2
the end; 3
(B) by redesignating paragraph (9) as 4
paragraph (10); 5
(C) by inserting after paragraph (8) the 6
following new paragraph: 7
‘‘(9) has written policies and procedures regard-8
ing the visitation rights of individuals receiving 9
items and services at the institution, which shall in-10
clude a description of any clinically necessary or rea-11
sonable restriction or limitation that such institution 12
may need to place on such rights and the reasons 13
for the clinical restriction or limitation, and a re-14
quirement that such institution— 15
‘‘(A) inform each such individual of his or 16
her visitation rights, including any clinical re-17
striction or limitation on such rights; 18
‘‘(B) inform each such individual of the 19
right, subject to the individual’s consent, to re-20
ceive the visitors whom the individual des-21
ignates, including a spouse, another family 22
member, or a friend, and the individual’s right 23
to withdraw or deny such consent at any time; 24
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‘‘(C) may not restrict, limit, or otherwise 1
deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, 2
color, national origin, religion, sex, or disability; 3
and 4
‘‘(D) ensure that all visitors enjoy full and 5
equal visitation privileges consistent with this 6
paragraph; and’’; and 7
(D) in the matter following paragraph 8
(10), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘paragraph 9
(9)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘para-10
graph (10)’’ in each such place; and 11
(2) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘(9)’’ and in-12
serting ‘‘(10)’’. 13
Æ
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