H.R. 3222 (119th)Bill Overview

SMART Health Care Act

Health|Health
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
May 6, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for c…

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief

The bill makes several Medicare and health policy changes: (1) requires Medicare Advantage risk adjustment to use two years of diagnostic data beginning 2026; (2) extends site-neutral payment rules so many on-campus outpatient department services are paid under the physician fee schedule instead of hospital outpatient payments, with rural-hospital exceptions, effective January 1, 2026; (3) creates a rural-provider exception that eases limits on physician-owned hospitals furnishing designated health services in rural areas; (4) amends 340B to require covered entities to provide outpatient drugs to patients at no more than the entity’s acquisition price (minus discounts/rebates), and directs the Secretary to implement compliance, reimbursement adjustments, and public reporting; and (5) adjusts a skilled nursing facility quality payment percentage by inserting a 2 percentage point change (text is brief and partially ambiguous).

Passage30/100

Technically specific but politically fraught package affecting insurers, hospitals, and pharma; likely to meet strong industry resistance and need for compromise.

CredibilityPartially aligned

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill provides a collection of concrete statutory amendments that effectuate substantive changes to Medicare payment and related programs, with moderate specificity in legal text but notable gaps in fiscal acknowledgement, implementation sequencing, enforcement detail, and mitigation of potential edge cases.

Contention58/100

Progressive worries physician-owned hospital expansion; conservatives support rural access exceptions.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Who this appears to help vs burden50% / 50%
Targeted stakeholdersTargeted stakeholders
Likely helped
  • Targeted stakeholdersMedicare Advantage payments likely better reflect beneficiaries' recent diagnoses, reducing upcoding incentives.
  • Targeted stakeholdersSite‑neutral payments could lower Medicare spending by reducing higher hospital outpatient payments.
  • Targeted stakeholdersRequiring 340B patient price limits may directly lower out‑of‑pocket drug costs for affected Medicare patients.
Likely burdened
  • Targeted stakeholdersHospitals may lose outpatient revenue, risking staffing cuts or service reductions at affected departments.
  • Targeted stakeholdersShifting to physician fee schedule payments could incentivize relocation of services or disrupt hospital‑based care mod…
  • Targeted stakeholdersCompliance, reporting, and reimbursement changes will increase administrative burden for providers and CMS.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

Progressive worries physician-owned hospital expansion; conservatives support rural access exceptions.
Progressive50%

Generally supportive of measures that curb overpayments and lower patient drug costs, but concerned about provisions that could expand physician-owned hospitals and weaken safety-net hospital revenue.

Sees transparency and 340B patient pass-through as positive; worries site-neutral payment changes and rural exceptions might shift costs or reduce care at community hospitals.

Some impacts are uncertain and depend on regulatory detail.

Split reaction
Centrist75%

Views bill as a mix of fiscal controls and access measures that could reduce waste and improve rural access.

Sees site-neutral payments and two-year risk data as reasonable cost-control steps, while 340B patient pricing and reporting improve accountability.

Wants clear implementation rules and monitoring to avoid unintended access losses.

Leans supportive
Conservative85%

Likely to favor the bill’s measures to reduce perceived Medicare overpayments, enforce site-neutral payments, and expand rural provider options.

Supports stronger oversight of drug pricing passthrough but may object to added federal reporting complexity.

Sees the physician-owned rural exception as restoring local choice and competition.

Leans supportive
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood30/100

Technically specific but politically fraught package affecting insurers, hospitals, and pharma; likely to meet strong industry resistance and need for compromise.

Scope and complexity
52%
Scopemoderate
52%
Complexitymedium
Why this could stall
  • No cost estimate or CBO score included
  • Ambiguity in the skilled nursing payment language
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

Progressive worries physician-owned hospital expansion; conservatives support rural access exceptions.

Technically specific but politically fraught package affecting insurers, hospitals, and pharma; likely to meet strong industry resistance a…

Unlocked analysis

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill provides a collection of concrete statutory amendments that effectuate substantive changes to Medicare payment and related programs, with moderate specificity in lega…

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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