Before the House adjourned for the midterm elections, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on various healthcare proposals, including several bills aimed at reforming Medicare physician payments.
The Patients First Act (HR 9693), which AAOMS largely supports, was among the bills that received the most attention. The bill would provide an annual inflationary update to physician reimbursement, increase the budget neutrality threshold and replace the current Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) with a new physician quality payment program.
The committee also considered the Dental and Optometric Care (DOC) Access Act (HR 1521), which is led by the ADA and supported by AAOMS. The bill would prohibit federally regulated dental plans from setting fees for services the plans do not cover. The Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2026 (S 3315) also was discussed during the hearing. Among other provisions, the bill would mandate minimum cybersecurity practices for HIPAA-regulated entities – including multifactor authentication, encryption of protected health information and alignment with national frameworks – while allowing HHS enforcement discretion for entities facing extraordinary compliance burdens. The Senate passed this bill on Sept. 30, just before adjourning for the midterm elections, increasing the bill’s chances of passing the House as part of a post-election lame-duck package.
