Bill > S1974

This bill, known as the ABC-ED Act of 2025, aims to improve emergency department (ED) operations and healthcare data tracking by making several key changes to existing laws. First, the bill would modify the Public Health Service Act to allow grants that support public health data modernization to be used for developing state or region-wide, real-time systems that track hospital bed capacity and its impact on emergency department boarding rates, wait times, and EMS personnel offloading times. The bill would also establish a requirement for creating public-facing dashboards with this tracked information, while maintaining patient privacy. Additionally, the legislation directs the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to launch pilot programs focusing on two specific areas: improving emergency care for older adults by enhancing staffing, infrastructure, policies, and coordination between emergency departments and post-acute care facilities, and improving emergency care for individuals experiencing acute psychiatric crises through dedicated ED units and better transfer processes. Lastly, the bill mandates a comprehensive study by the Comptroller General to determine best practices for developing hospital capacity tracking systems, assess their impact on emergency department operations, and report findings to Congress within one year of the act's enactment.

Health and Social Services

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1974/all-info