# Plain Language Summary: Empowering Patient Choice of Medical Care Act

Right now, Medicare has a list of medical procedures and services that can only be done in a hospital while you stay overnight as an inpatient. The government decided these particular services are too risky or complex to do on an outpatient basis, where you'd go home the same day. This bill would eliminate that restriction and allow hospitals to offer these services as outpatient procedures instead, starting January 1, 2024.

What this means in practical terms is that certain surgeries and treatments that currently require an overnight hospital stay could potentially be done in an outpatient setting where you go home the same day. For example, if a procedure is currently on the "inpatient-only" list, a hospital could no longer be prevented from offering it as an outpatient service just because the government thinks it should only be done with an overnight stay. The decision would shift more toward individual hospitals and doctors to determine what's safe to do as an outpatient procedure.

This could benefit patients in several ways. Same-day procedures are often more convenient, less disruptive to your life, and may reduce your out-of-pocket costs since outpatient care is typically cheaper than overnight hospital stays. However, there's a potential downside: some of these procedures are on the inpatient-only list specifically because medical experts determined they carry higher risks or require more intensive monitoring. Allowing them as outpatient services could mean less medical supervision for patients who might actually need it, depending on which procedures end up moving to outpatient settings and how hospitals implement these changes.

Empowering Patient Choice of Medical Care Act

Rep. Spartz, Victoria [R-IN-5]

Empowering Patient Choice of Medical Care Act This bill prohibits the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services from refusing to designate a service as a covered hospital outpatient service under Medicare based solely on its determination that the service can only be furnished in an inpatient setting.