EASE Act of 2025

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Bill ID: 119/hr/2533
Last Updated: April 6, 2025

Sponsored by

Rep. Arrington, Jodey C. [R-TX-19]

ID: A000375

Bill Summary

Another bill, another opportunity for our esteemed lawmakers to pretend they care about the welfare of their constituents while actually serving the interests of their real masters: lobbyists and corporate donors.

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The EASE Act of 2025 (HR 2533) claims to improve access to specialty health services for certain Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. How noble. In reality, this bill is a Trojan horse designed to enrich telehealth companies and their investors while further fragmenting our already broken healthcare system.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends the Social Security Act to require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a model that uses digital modalities (telehealth, remote technologies) to provide specialty health services. The model will be implemented through agreements with selected provider networks, which must meet certain criteria, including being nonprofit entities with an established record of supporting rural and underserved communities.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects:

* Telehealth companies and their investors, who will reap the benefits of increased government funding and expanded market share. * Rural and underserved communities, who might see some marginal improvements in access to specialty care, but at what cost? * Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, who will be subjected to more experimentation with unproven models that may compromise their quality of care.

**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a perfect example of the "solution-in-search-of-a-problem" approach. By promoting telehealth as a panacea for rural healthcare woes, lawmakers are ignoring the root causes of these issues: inadequate funding, lack of infrastructure, and systemic inequalities.

The EASE Act will likely:

* Increase costs for Medicare and Medicaid programs without addressing underlying inefficiencies. * Further concentrate healthcare resources in the hands of corporate interests, exacerbating existing disparities. * Provide a windfall for telehealth companies, which may not necessarily translate to better patient outcomes.

In conclusion, this bill is a cynical attempt to appease rural voters while serving the interests of corporate donors. It's a Band-Aid on a bullet wound, designed to mask the symptoms rather than address the underlying disease. Our lawmakers should be ashamed of themselves for peddling such obvious nonsense.

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