Jack Bergman

This bill designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 324 Washington Avenue, Suite 1 in Grand Haven, Michigan, as the "Ell Thomas Simantz Post Office Building".

Rural Patient Monitoring Access Act or the RPM Access Act

This bill conditions Medicare payment for remote patient monitoring services on certain requirements.

Specifically, the bill conditions payment on (1) the ability of certain health care practitioners to be available in real time to respond to any detected anomalies; (2) the use of a system that can transmit relevant data in a format that is compatible with electronic health records, as needed; and (3) the reporting of such data, as required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), to evaluate any cost savings as a result of such services.

The bill also establishes a floor for certain payment calculations with respect to such services.

The CMS must report on cost savings realized and expenses incurred from the use of such services over a four-year period.

National Plan for Epilepsy Act

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a national plan, form an advisory council, and take other actions to address epilepsy. The requirements sunset on December 31, 2035.

Specifically, the bill requires HHS to carry out a National Plan for Epilepsy to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure epilepsy. In carrying out the plan, HHS must implement activities such as coordinating research and services across all federal agencies and soliciting public comments.

Also, HHS must establish an Advisory Council on Epilepsy Research, Care, and Services. The advisory council must report to HHS and Congress every two years with an evaluation of federally funded efforts.

Additionally, HHS must annually report to Congress with recommended actions based on its assessments of the nation’s progress on epilepsy.

Ensuring Access to Specialty care Everywhere Act of 2025 or the EASE Act of 2025

This bill requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a model that uses a network of providers to remotely furnish specialty health care to Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries in rural areas.

To conduct the model, the CMMI must select at least one provider network that is a nonprofit entity and that consists of at least 50 federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, or rural emergency hospitals. At least half of the providers in the network must be located in rural areas. Providers must use digital methods (e.g., telehealth technology) to provide specialty care and must coordinate with beneficiaries' primary care providers.

Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2025

This bill establishes several requirements and standards relating to prior authorization processes under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

Specifically, MA plans must (1) establish an electronic prior authorization program that meets specified standards; (2) annually submit to the CMS for publication specified prior authorization information, including the percentage of requests approved and the average response time; and (3) meet other standards, as set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), relating to the quality and timeliness of prior authorization determinations.

The CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology must publish on the CMS' website a report that analyzes the information received from MA plans, the feasibility of implementing real-time decision making with respect to prior authorization requests, and the impact of decisions that are made using artificial intelligence on patient access.

Essential Caregivers Act of 2025

This bill prohibits certain health care facilities from limiting the access of essential caregivers to residents of those facilities, including during designated emergency periods.

Specifically, the bill generally prohibits Medicare skilled nursing facilities, Medicaid nursing facilities, Medicaid intermediate care facilities, and associated inpatient rehabilitation facilities from restricting the access of essential caregivers to residents of the facilities, including during emergency periods in which visitation rights are otherwise restricted. During emergency periods, facilities may restrict access for an initial period of up to seven days and for one additional maximum seven-day period (if the additional period is approved by the state health department). Facilities may restrict access for a total of 7 days (or 14 days with the approval of the state health department) during an emergency period.

Essential caregivers must agree to comply with any safety protocols set by the facility, which may be no more stringent for caregivers compared to those for staff. Caregivers who fail to comply with these requirements may be denied access, subject to an appeals process.

Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act

This act extends the federal tax deduction for qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses and the exclusion from gross income of qualified wildfire relief payments.

Under current law, unreimbursed personal casualty losses arising in a qualified disaster area (qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses) are deductible (as an itemized tax deduction or as part of the standard tax deduction) if such losses exceed $500 per casualty. A qualified disaster area is an area with respect to which a major disaster has been declared during the period beginning in 2020 and ending 60 days after July 4, 2025, if the incident period begins on or after December 28, 2019, and on or before July 4, 2025.

The act extends the federal tax deduction for qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses by defining a qualified disaster area as an area with respect to which a major disaster has been declared if the incident period begins on or after December 28, 2019, and before January 1, 2027.

The act provides that the exclusion from gross income of qualified wildfire relief payments applies to such payments attributable to forest or range fires declared a federal disaster after 2014 and before 2027, regardless of when such payments are received. (Currently, qualified wildfire relief payments attributable to forest or range fires declared a federal disaster after 2014 and received after 2019 and before 2026 may be excluded from gross income.)

The act also provides statutory authority for several related tax rules.