Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026

Health Senate 6 cosponsors

Latest action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · May 21, 2026

Understand the measure

What this bill does

Congressional Research Service · Official summary · Last checked October 12, 2026

Summary for Introduced in Senate

May 21, 2026 · Summary last updated June 29, 2026

Version of the bill text this summary covers: Introduced in Senate · May 21, 2026

This summary from the Congressional Research Service is matched to an exact version of the bill text using the official record. We link a vote to that text only when the official record for the vote points to the same text.

Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026

This bill deems an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital as an inpatient for purposes of satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital-stay requirement with respect to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility (SNF) services. (Generally, individuals must have been an inpatient at a hospital for at least three days in order to qualify for SNF services. An individual's time spent under observation at a hospital for purposes of determining whether the individual should be admitted does not count towards this requirement.)

Read summaries at Congress.gov ↗ · Official GovInfo record ↗ · How we write summaries

The measure

The official bill title and text published by Congress and GovInfo.

The movement

Every committee, chamber, and clerk-recorded action attached to its date.

The votes

Every roll call on this measure—or a clear notice when no individual vote exists.

Where it stands

The measure's progress

In committee

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Recorded May 21, 2026, as the clerk wrote it

Sponsor Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]

Committee Finance Committee

Recorded votes None taken

The official record

Congress.gov bill page
The bill text, as published by GPO GovInfo
Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution: how a bill becomes law
Status, sponsor and actions from the official GovInfo record, read October 11, 2026 · see sources

Cite this record

Reference number: bill-119-s4641
Permanent link: https://votefiles.com/cite/bill-119-s4641
Official source: Congress.gov ↗
Last checked: October 11, 2026Status and actions last read from the official GovInfo BILLSTATUS record

AP style

Vote Files, "S. 4641 (119th Congress): Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026," last checked Oct. 11, 2026, citing Congress.gov, https://votefiles.com/cite/bill-119-s4641

APA

Vote Files. (2026, October 11). S. 4641 (119th Congress): Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026 [Bill record]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://votefiles.com/cite/bill-119-s4641

Chicago

Vote Files. "S. 4641 (119th Congress): Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026." Last modified October 11, 2026. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://votefiles.com/cite/bill-119-s4641.

BibTeX

@misc{votefiles_bill_119_s4641,
  author       = {{Vote Files}},
  title        = {{S. 4641 (119th Congress): Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2026}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://votefiles.com/cite/bill-119-s4641}},
  note         = {Reference number bill-119-s4641; official source: Congress.gov, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4641; last checked October 11, 2026; accessed October 12, 2026}
}

Plain link

https://votefiles.com/cite/bill-119-s4641

Cite the official source for the underlying fact. The Vote Files reference number never changes for this record. AP, APA and Chicago are standard citation styles for news and academic writing, and BibTeX is the format reference-manager programs read.

Official analyses

CBO cost estimates and CRS reports on S. 4641

No official record has been found at this time. We are watching for updates.

Listed only where the Congressional Budget Office names this bill number in its estimate's title and that title matches the bill's own, or where the Congressional Research Service lists this bill among a report's related materials. Titles and dates are the publishers' own. All watchdog and scorekeeper reports

On the record

No recorded vote

No roll call has been taken on this measure, so no member's position on it is on the record. Most measures never get one.