# Plain Language Summary: Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2025

This bill would undo restrictions that were put in place by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) regarding when doctors can refer patients to hospitals where they have financial interests. Right now, there's a federal law that generally prohibits doctors from referring patients to hospitals if the doctor owns a stake in that hospital or has a financial relationship with it—the idea being that doctors might recommend unnecessary care to make more money. However, the Affordable Care Act created some exceptions to this rule, allowing certain doctors and hospitals to have these financial relationships under specific conditions. This bill would eliminate those exceptions and go back to stricter rules.

Specifically, the bill targets situations where doctors own or invest in hospitals. Under current law, doctors can sometimes refer patients to hospitals they partially own if certain requirements are met, like transparency rules and ownership limits. This bill would make those exceptions disappear, meaning doctors would face much tighter restrictions on referring patients to hospitals where they have financial stakes. Supporters of the bill argue this protects patients from unnecessary medical procedures driven by profit motives, while opponents worry it could limit doctors' ability to invest in healthcare facilities and potentially reduce competition in the healthcare market.

The practical effect would be that doctors would have fewer opportunities to own pieces of hospitals or have financial arrangements with them. This could affect how healthcare is delivered in some communities, particularly in rural areas where doctors sometimes invest in local hospitals to ensure quality care is available. It could also impact patients indirectly by changing which hospitals doctors can refer to and potentially affecting the availability of certain medical services in some regions.

Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2025

Van Duyne, Beth

Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2025This bill repeals provisions under the Stark law (i.e., the Physician Self-Referral Law) that limit,&nbsp;for purposes of&nbsp;Medicare participation,&nbsp;self-referrals by newly constructed or expanded&nbsp;physician-owned hospitals.