S. 3221 119th Congress Senate

Expanding Health Care Options for First Responders Act

Official title: A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide an option for first responders age 50 to 64 who are separated from service due to retirement or disability to buy into Medicare.

Introduced: November 19, 2025 Introduced by: Ruben Gallego Democratic · Arizona See on congress.gov

Health

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Nov 19, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Nov 19, 2025

Introduced in Senate

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What's happening now November 19, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Expanding Health Care Options for First Responders Act

This bill establishes a Medicare buy-in option for certain qualifying first responders.

Specifically, the bill allows first responders aged 50 to 64 to enroll in Medicare if they are retired or otherwise separated from service due to a disability. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must determine enrollment periods and set premiums for the buy-in option established under the bill, in accordance with specified requirements. The CMS must also award grants to states and nonprofit organizations for outreach and enrollment activities relating to the buy-in option.

Related & companion bills 1

Bill text 1 version

Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 1

Finance Committee
Senate

Lobbying activity 17

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS
for INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
WINNING STRATEGIES WASHINGTON
for NATIONAL TROOPERS COALITION · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
STEPTOE LLP
for PEACE OFFICERS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA · California · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
for NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE · District of Columbia · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
for NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2026 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
for NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE · District of Columbia · 4th Quarter 2025 (Oct 1 - Dec 31)

Bodies those filers lobbied

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
17 filings
SENATE
17 filings
Justice, Dept of (DOJ)
14 filings
Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)
11 filings
Labor, Dept of (DOL)
11 filings
White House Office
7 filings
Commerce, Dept of (DOC)
6 filings
Agriculture, Dept of (USDA)
4 filings

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

See all 17 filings →

Cite this page click to expand

APA

U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 3221: Expanding Health Care Options for First Responders Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3221/

MLA

"S. 3221: Expanding Health Care Options for First Responders Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3221/.

Bluebook (legal)

S. 3221, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3221/.

Markdown link

[S. 3221: Expanding Health Care Options for First Responders Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3221/)