Summary

Creates a federal Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) strategy to reduce preventable lower‑limb amputations by funding a CDC education and outreach program, adding Medicare and Medicaid coverage of PAD screening for defined “at‑risk” beneficiaries with no cost‑sharing, requiring new quality measures tied to amputation prevention, and directing the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to test an amputation‑prevention care model. Medicare screening coverage becomes effective January 1, 2026; the CDC program is funded for FY2026–2030 and the quality measures and pilot must be tested and validated within 18 months of enactment.

Key Points

• Establishes a federally run PAD Education Program at CDC with $6M/year authorized for FY2026–2030.
• Requires Medicare to cover PAD screening for defined at‑risk beneficiaries with no cost‑sharing, effective Jan 1, 2026.
• Requires Medicaid to cover the same PAD screening tests for at‑risk enrollees without cost‑sharing and updates Social Security Act language accordingly.
• Directs HHS to develop and validate quality measures aimed at reducing nontraumatic lower‑limb major amputations within 18 months.
• Directs CMMI to design and test an amputation prevention pilot focused on early screening, treatment, and care coordination within 18 months.
• Targets outreach and screening toward at‑risk populations to improve early diagnosis and promote limb‑salvage treatments like revascularization.
• Creates new federal responsibilities for HHS, CMS, CDC, and CMMI and establishes implementation timelines tied to enactment.
• Aims to lower long‑term clinical, functional, and economic costs associated with late PAD diagnosis and preventable amputations.

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