II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3744 

To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to lower barriers to increase 

patient access to health care. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2024 

Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to lower 

barriers to increase patient access to health care. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Accelerating 

5 Consumer’s Care by Expediting Self-Scheduling Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Health ACCESS Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 1128B. 

8 Section 1128B(b) of the Social Security Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 1320a–7b(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (A) by moving the left margins of subpara2 graphs (J) and (K) 2 ems to the left; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (K), by striking 

4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

5 (C) in subparagraph (L), by striking the 

6 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

8 subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(M) any remuneration paid by a provider of 

10 services (as defined in section 1861(u)) or a supplier 

11 (as defined in section 1861(d)) to an information 

12 service provider (as defined in paragraph (5)), if— 

13 ‘‘(i) such information service provider does 

14 not— 

15 ‘‘(I) steer or lead a consumer to select 

16 a particular provider of services or supplier 

17 based on the amount a provider of services 

18 or supplier pays or may pay the informa19 tion service provider; 

20 ‘‘(II) provide, or represent itself as 

21 providing, any medical items or services, 

22 diagnostic or counseling services or assess23 ments of illness or injury, or make any 

24 promises of cure or guarantees of treat25 ment; 


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1 ‘‘(III) provide contact information re2 garding a consumer (as defined in para3 graph (5)) to providers of services or sup4 pliers, except to the specific provider of 

5 services or supplier selected by the con6 sumer; 

7 ‘‘(IV) provide or arrange for transpor8 tation of an individual to, or from, the lo9 cation of a provider of services or supplier; 

10 ‘‘(V) provide or arrange for the provi11 sion of any other remuneration to a Fed12 eral health care program beneficiary other 

13 than the inherent convenience of the infor14 mation service or as permitted pursuant to 

15 the nominal value guidance; or 

16 ‘‘(VI) engage in targeted marketing of 

17 a particular provider or supplier through 

18 phone calls or text messages, with respect 

19 to consumers or potential consumers who 

20 have not previously interacted with the in21 formation service provider and who have 

22 not opted out; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the methodology for determining com24 pensation paid to the information service pro25 vider by a provider of services or supplier is set 


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1 in advance in writing, and the compensation: 

2 (I) does not exceed fair market value; (II) is for 

3 services, specified in writing; and (III) does not 

4 take into account the value of any items or 

5 services payable in whole or in part by a Fed6 eral health care program that result from rec7 ommendations by the information service pro8 vider for the provider of services or supplier; 

9 ‘‘(iii) such information service provider 

10 clearly discloses the financial arrangement be11 tween it and the providers of services or sup12 pliers participating in such service to con13 sumers; 

14 ‘‘(iv) such information service provider fur15 nishes provider- and supplier-specific informa16 tion to consumers based only on objective, con17 sumer-centric criteria; 

18 ‘‘(v) such information service provider de19 velops objective criteria for participation in such 

20 information service and does not exclude any 

21 providers of services or suppliers who meet such 

22 criteria from participating therein; and 

23 ‘‘(vi) such information service provider 

24 meets such other conditions as may be deter25 mined appropriate by the Secretary.’’; and 


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1 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(5) DEFINITION OF CONSUMER; INFORMATION

4 SERVICE PROVIDER.—For purposes of paragraph (3)(M): 

5 ‘‘(A) CONSUMER.—The term ‘consumer’ means 

6 an individual who uses a web-based platform oper7 ated by an information service provider for the pur8 pose of searching providers of services or suppliers. 

9 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

10 term ‘information service provider’ means any indi11 vidual or entity operating a web-based platform that 

12 makes information regarding providers of services or 

13 suppliers available to consumers.’’. 

Æ 


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