Essential Caregivers Act of 2025
Official title: A bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for the… Show full official titleShow less
Official title: A bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities to permit essential caregivers access during any period in which regular visitation is restricted.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Essential Caregivers Act of 2025
This bill prohibits certain health care facilities from limiting the access of essential caregivers to residents of those facilities, including during designated emergency periods.
Specifically, the bill generally prohibits Medicare skilled nursing facilities, Medicaid nursing facilities, Medicaid intermediate care facilities, and associated inpatient rehabilitation facilities from restricting the access of essential caregivers to residents of the facilities, including during emergency periods in which visitation rights are otherwise restricted. During emergency periods, facilities may restrict access for an initial period of up to seven days and for one additional maximum seven-day period (if the additional period is approved by the state health department). Facilities may restrict access for a total of 7 days (or 14 days with the approval of the state health department) during an emergency period.
Essential caregivers must agree to comply with any safety protocols set by the facility, which may be no more stringent for caregivers compared to those for staff. Caregivers who fail to comply with these requirements may be denied access, subject to an appeals process.
- Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
- ASSOCIATION FOR FRONTOTEMPORAL DEGENERATION
- THE MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH
- SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION CTW-CLC
- THE MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH
- AARP
- THE MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH
Bodies those filers lobbied
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- SENATE
- Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)
- Agriculture, Dept of (USDA)
- Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
- Defense, Dept of (DOD)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3492/
"S. 3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3492/.
S. 3492, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3492/.
[S. 3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-3492/)