Rep. Victoria Spartz

Maddy summaryHR 3017, the Measuring State Healthcare Freedom Act, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a 10-year study tracking healthcare competition and consolidation at the state level. The study collects specific data, including state licensing requirements for healthcare workers, hospital/insurance mergers, state laws governing hospital expansions (certificates of public advantage), and the availability of alternative insurance plans. HHS must publish annual reports and make all collected data publicly accessible online. This bill does not change state laws but creates a federal framework to monitor existing state healthcare regulations and market structures.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to expand the FTC's authority over certain tax-exempt hospitals. It adds "any hospital organization or cooperative hospital service organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code" to the definition of "corporation" under FTC jurisdiction. This change directly affects tax-exempt hospitals and hospital cooperatives that qualify under 501(c)(3), allowing the FTC to investigate and act against their anti-competitive practices. The key mechanism is simply updating the legal definition to include these specific healthcare entities under existing FTC oversight.

Maddy summaryHR 3019, the Holding Nonprofit Hospitals Accountable Act, requires nonprofit hospitals receiving tax exemptions to meet new community benefit standards. It mandates these hospitals to have community-elected boards, treat patients using public programs (like Medicare/Medicaid) without limiting numbers, and spend at least 100% of their annual tax exemptions on specific community services - including patient care training, facility upgrades, and free/discounted care. The bill also requires hospitals to follow Medicare billing rates for financial assistance and establishes annual reviews by the Treasury Inspector General and GAO to monitor compliance and enforcement. These changes apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, directly affecting nonprofit hospitals that operate under IRS 501(c)(3) status.

Maddy summaryThis bill mandates a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine how specific contract clauses in health insurance agreements affect competition and costs. It focuses on "anti-steering" clauses (restricting insurers from directing patients to lower-cost providers), "anti-tiering" clauses (blocking tiered provider networks), "all-or-nothing" clauses (forcing inclusion of all providers), and "gag" clauses (preventing price transparency). The study will assess these clauses' impact on healthcare consolidation, consumer prices, access, and whether federal agencies have sufficient resources to enforce antitrust laws against them. The findings must be reported to relevant congressional committees within 18 months of the bill's enactment. This is a procedural study - no immediate policy changes are implemented by the bill itself.

Maddy summaryHR 3021, the Empowering Patient Choice of Medical Care Act, changes Medicare rules to expand access to outpatient hospital care. Starting January 1, 2026, the Health Secretary cannot block outpatient designation for a service solely because it might only be safe in an inpatient setting. This directly affects Medicare beneficiaries who would previously have been required to stay in a hospital for certain procedures now eligible for outpatient care. The bill removes a specific administrative barrier, allowing more flexibility for patients and providers without altering Medicare coverage or payment rates.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires hospitals to bill Medicare and other insurers using separate unique identifiers for off-campus outpatient departments (starting January 1, 2026), rather than treating them as part of the main hospital. It removes exceptions that allowed hospitals to bill higher rates for services at off-campus locations, mandating that these departments use specific billing forms (HIPAA X12 837P or CMS 1500) with their own identifiers. The bill directly affects hospitals operating off-campus departments, Medicare, and health insurance issuers, ensuring claims for these locations are processed accurately. It also directs the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to develop model regulations helping insurers reject improper claims. The key change is standardizing billing to prevent overcharging for off-campus services.

Maddy summaryThis bill repeals restrictions that previously prevented physicians from owning hospitals, particularly in rural areas. It amends Section 1877 of the Social Security Act to remove specific ownership prohibitions and exceptions related to rural hospitals. The key change allows physicians to directly own or invest in hospitals without needing special qualifying exceptions. This directly affects physicians seeking to own rural hospitals and rural hospitals that previously faced ownership barriers. The bill makes a concrete policy change by removing these legal barriers to physician ownership.

Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025   This bill imposes penalties on certain persons (individuals and entities) if the President determines that the Russian government or a person acting at Russia's direction is involved with (1) refusing to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine; (2) violating a negotiated peace agreement; (3) initiating another invasion of Ukraine; or (4) overthrowing, dismantling, or seeking to subvert the Ukrainian government.   If the President makes such a determination, the bill requires certain actions including the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on specified persons such as the Russian president, certain Russian military commanders, and any foreign person that knowingly provides defense items to the Russian armed forces; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported from Russia into the United States to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported into the United States from countries that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the Department of the Treasury must impose property-blocking sanctions on any financial institution organized under Russian law and owned wholly or partly by Russia, and any financial institution that engages in transactions with those entities; and the Department of Commerce must prohibit the export, reexport, or in-country transfer to or in Russia of any U.S.-produced energy or energy product.

Maddy summaryThis bill modifies Medicare's physician self-referral rules to improve access for rural communities. It creates a new exemption for "covered rural hospitals" (defined as facilities in rural areas more than 35 miles from another hospital or critical access hospital) from certain restrictions on physicians owning hospitals. The bill also removes a prohibition on expanding existing physician-owned hospitals, allowing such expansions after the law's enactment. These changes directly affect rural hospitals seeking Medicare participation and physicians who own or operate hospitals in underserved areas.

Maddy summaryHR 2054, the VOTE Act, would prevent states from receiving federal funds for administering federal elections if they provide ballots in any language other than English. It amends the Voting Rights Act by removing current requirements that allow states to provide bilingual ballots in certain areas, eliminating the prohibition on English-only ballots for federal elections. This directly affects states that currently offer ballots in non-English languages to comply with federal language access rules. The bill changes the policy by making federal election funding contingent solely on using English ballots, without requiring multilingual options.