ABC-ED Act of 2025 (S-1974)

This plan aims to make emergency rooms less crowded and faster. It lets public health grants pay for real-time systems to track open hospital beds and show how bed shortages drive ER boarding, long waits, and delays for ambulances to hand off patients. It also requires a public-facing dashboard with information shared in a privacy-safe way . It tests new, research-based ways to improve emergency care for older adults and for people in a mental health crisis—like better staffing and training, changes to ER space, geriatric-focused policies, dedicated ER units for psychiatric care, and smoother transfers to nursing homes or other facilities with two-way information sharing . A national study will identify best practices for these tracking systems, make sure they connect with hospital medical records, cover ERs, ICUs (adult and pediatric), inpatient psychiatric services, and skilled nursing facilities, and measure how they affect boarding, wait times, and ambulance offload delays. The report is due within one year after the law takes effect .

Key point	What it means for you
Who is affected	Patients and families who use ERs, older adults, people in psychiatric crisis, EMS crews, and staff at hospitals and senior care facilities .
What changes	Real-time, state or regional tracking of hospital bed space with a public dashboard; pilots to improve ER care for older adults and psychiatric emergencies; better coordination and transfers to post-acute facilities .
When	The study’s findings are due to Congress within one year after enactment; other pieces allow grants and pilots to begin as implemented by federal agencies .

ABC-ED Act of 2025

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