Sponsors (3)
The bill improves patient autonomy and safety by guaranteeing notice of consent rights and access to trained chaperones and requiring staff training, but it imposes administrative costs on providers and taxpayers and creates reporting and surrogate-consent complexities that may burden providers and some vulnerable patients.
Medicare beneficiaries and other patients will receive clear written notice of their right to informed consent and to request a chaperone before sensitive exams or procedures.
Patients (including Medicare beneficiaries) can request trained chaperones during sensitive procedures, improving feelings of safety and reducing the risk of misconduct.
Hospitals and providers must train staff on informed consent and chaperone roles, likely improving staff knowledge and producing more consistent patient protections across Medicare facilities.
Hospitals and other Medicare providers will incur administrative and training costs to develop policies, materials, and chaperone programs, with costs ultimately borne in part by providers and taxpayers.
The requirement that chaperones/reporting staff follow federal reporting rules for suspected sexual abuse increases providers' reporting obligations and could raise risk of liability if implementations are flawed.
Patients with disabilities or limited decision-making capacity may face complexity or inconsistent access to chaperones and informed-consent protections where state law restricts surrogate consent.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires Medicare providers to adopt written informed-consent and chaperone policies, give adult patients written notice of consent and chaperone rights, and train staff chaperones.
Introduced October 31, 2025 by Lori Trahan · Last progress October 31, 2025
Adds a new Medicare condition of participation, effective January 1, 2026, requiring Medicare providers to adopt written informed-consent policies and to provide chaperone training and education. Providers must give adult patients (or, where state law allows, their surrogates) written information about rights to be informed, to participate in care planning, to give informed consent before items or services are furnished, and to request a chaperone during sensitive procedures. Providers must train staff to serve as chaperones, including how to witness procedures, help ensure a safe environment, identify sensitive procedures, explain patients’ informed-consent rights, and report sexual abuse under federal law. The law defines "chaperone," "informed consent," and "sensitive procedure," with sensitive procedures including exams, surgery, or other procedures involving genitalia, breasts, perianal region, rectum, or any procedure an individual considers sensitive.