H.R. 3173 · 117th Congress

Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2021

Introduced on May 13, 2021 by Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA-1). 326 cosponsors, 135 of them from another party. Latest action (Sep 15, 2022): Received in the Senate.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
May 13, 2021
Cosponsors
326
135 from the other party
Policy area
Health
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish requirements with respect to the use of prior authorization under Medicare Advantage plans, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Administrative law and regulatory procedures
  • Congressional oversight
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Government information and archives
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Government trust funds
  • Health care coverage and access
  • Medicare
  • Performance measurement

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, Sep 14, 2022). Public domain.

Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2022

This bill establishes several requirements and standards relating to prior authorization processes under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

Specifically, MA plans must (1) establish an electronic prior authorization program that meets specified standards, including the ability to provide real-time decisions in response to requests for items and services that are routinely approved; (2) annually publish specified prior authorization information, including the percentage of requests approved and the average response time; and (3) meet other standards, as set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, relating to the quality and timeliness of prior authorization determinations.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Suzan K. DelBeneD-WA-1Sponsor

Democrats · 191

Republicans · 135

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. May 13, 2021Introduced in House
  2. May 13, 2021Introduced in House
  3. May 13, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. May 13, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. May 14, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Health.
  6. Jul 12, 2022 · HouseMotion to place bill on Consensus Calendar filed by Ms. DelBene.
  7. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseAssigned to the Consensus Calendar, Calendar No. 2.
  8. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseSubcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  9. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote .
  10. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseThe Chair announced the Speaker's designation, pursuant to clause 7(a)(1) of rule XV, of H. R. 3173 as the measure on the Consensus Calendar to be considered this week.
  11. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseMs. DelBene moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  12. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H7796-7804)
  13. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 3173.
  14. Sep 14, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  15. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H7796-7798)
  16. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  17. Sep 15, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS7 reports
    $1.2M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS$18M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  2. McKesson Corporation & affiliates U.S. Oncology and Rx Savings Solutions6 reports
    $5.4M reported (all issues)
  3. California Medical Association Inc.5 reports
    $315K reported (all issues)
  4. Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute, Inc.5 reports
  5. HUMANA INC.5 reports
    $7M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: HUMANA GOVERNMENT BUSINESS INC$5.6B in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  6. FEDERATION OF AMERICAN HOSPITALS4 reports
    $2.4M reported (all issues)
  7. AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION3 reports
    $18.1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION$1.2M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  8. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center3 reports
    $420K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER$1.6M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  9. American Medical Association1 report
    $7.3M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION$371K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  10. American Medical Rehabilitation Provider Association1 report
    $100K reported (all issues)
  11. Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. (FKA Horizon Pharma USA, Inc.)1 report
    $50K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: HORIZON THERAPEUTICS USA, INC.AI match · 100%
  12. Independence Blue Cross, LLC1 report
    $220K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2023, 2024, 2025.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.