Sponsors (4)
The bill ensures access to federally funded health care regardless of COVID‑19 vaccination status—protecting patients (including children on CHIP) from being denied treatment—while imposing financial and compliance pressures on providers that could reduce services or shift costs to taxpayers.
Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries (and other patients served by federally funded providers) will not be denied treatment because of their COVID‑19 vaccination status, preserving access to covered care.
People treated at hospitals, clinics, and other facilities that receive federal health funds will be treated regardless of vaccination status, reducing discriminatory barriers to care.
Children covered by CHIP will retain access to covered pediatric care because facilities cannot refuse treatment based on COVID‑19 vaccination status.
Hospitals and clinics that adopt vaccine‑based treatment policies may lose federal funding or program participation, threatening revenue and program viability for those providers.
Facilities that currently rely on vaccination-based infection‑control policies may be forced to change practices or incur extra costs to comply, increasing operational burdens on providers.
Enforcement (including withholding federal payments from noncompliant facilities) could shift costs to taxpayers and/or reduce available capacity for patients who rely on federally funded services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal funds, including Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP, from going to facilities that refuse treatment because of a person's COVID-19 vaccination status.
Introduced February 14, 2025 by Erin Houchin · Last progress February 14, 2025
Prohibits federal funds from going to any health care facility that refuses to provide medical treatment because a person is or is not vaccinated against COVID-19. The restriction covers all federal funds, including Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and other federal trust funds, and applies regardless of any other law. Facilities that deny care on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status would risk losing federal payments; the bill does not specify additional enforcement details or change existing Medicare/Medicaid statutes beyond limiting fund availability to such facilities.