II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1248
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to require the Center for
Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test a model to improve access
to specialty health services for certain Medicare and Medicaid bene-
ficiaries.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL2, 2025
Mr. M
ULLIN(for himself, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to require
the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test
a model to improve access to specialty health services
for certain Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
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 ‘‘Ensuring Access to 4
Specialty Care Everywhere Act’’ or the ‘‘EASE Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. REQUIRING THE CENTER FOR MEDICARE AND MED-1
ICAID INNOVATION TO TEST A MODEL TO IM-2
PROVE ACCESS TO SPECIALTY HEALTH SERV-3
ICES FOR CERTAIN MEDICARE AND MED-4
ICAID BENEFICIARIES. 5
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 1115A of the Social Secu-6
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1315a) is amended— 7
(1) in subsection (b)(2)— 8
(A) in subparagraph (A), in the third sen-9
tence, by inserting ‘‘, and shall include the 10
model described in subparagraph (B)(xxviii)’’ 11
before the period at the end; and 12
(B) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the 13
end the following new clause: 14
‘‘(xxviii) The Specialty Health Care 15
Services Access Model described in sub-16
section (h).’’; and 17
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-18
section: 19
‘‘(h) S
PECIALTYHEALTHCARESERVICESACCESS 20
M
ODEL.— 21
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 22
(b)(2)(B)(xxviii), the Specialty Health Care Services 23
Access Model described in this subsection is a model 24
under which the Secretary enters into an agreement 25
with one or more provider networks selected in ac-26
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cordance with paragraph (2) for purposes of fur-1
nishing specialty health care services (as specified by 2
the Secretary) to eligible individuals through the use 3
of digital modalities (such as telehealth and other re-4
mote technologies) in coordination with such individ-5
uals’ primary care providers. 6
‘‘(2) S
ELECTION OF PROVIDER NETWORKS .— 7
The Secretary shall select one or more networks of 8
providers for purposes of furnishing services under 9
the model described in paragraph (1). Any such net-10
work so selected shall— 11
‘‘(A) be comprised of at least 50 Federally 12
qualified health centers, rural health clinics, 13
critical access hospitals, or rural emergency 14
hospitals, at least half of which are located in 15
rural areas (as defined by the Administrator of 16
the Health Resources and Services Administra-17
tion); 18
‘‘(B) be a nonprofit entity under section 19
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 20
1986; 21
‘‘(C) have an established record of sup-22
porting the delivery of health care in rural and 23
underserved communities in multiple regions 24
throughout the country; and 25
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‘‘(D) have the ability to collect, exchange, 1
and evaluate data for purposes of the model de-2
scribed in paragraph (1). 3
‘‘(3) E
LIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED .—For 4
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘eligible indi-5
vidual’ means an individual— 6
‘‘(A) who— 7
‘‘(i) is entitled to benefits under part 8
A of title XVIII or enrolled under part B 9
of such title; or 10
‘‘(ii) is enrolled under the Medicaid 11
program under title XIX or the Children’s 12
Health Insurance Program under title XXI 13
and meets all components for eligibility for 14
medical assistance, child health assistance, 15
or pregnancy-related assistance (as appli-16
cable), including those described in sec-17
tions 1902(a)(46)(B) and 1137(d); and 18
‘‘(B) who is located in a rural or under-19
served area (as specified by the Secretary).’’. 20
(b) L
IMITATION.—Any amounts appropriated or allo-21
cated to carry out the amendments made by this section 22
shall be subject to the requirements contained in Public 23
Law 117–328 for funds for programs authorized under 24
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sections 330 through 340 of the Public Health Service Act 1
(42 U.S.C. 254b through 256). 2
Æ
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