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The bill speeds and incentivizes use of credentialed, cross‑state health workers via federally supported platforms during disasters—improving emergency access and surge capacity—but does so by granting liability protections and federal facilitation that can weaken state licensing control, limit patient legal recourse, and create uneven verification and market effects.
Patients in declared-disaster areas can get faster access to credentialed health professionals through certified platforms, improving emergency care availability for people with ongoing health needs and local response efforts.
Independent-contractor health care workers can be deployed across state lines more quickly because the federal government facilitates temporary licensure waivers and provides model procedures, increasing surge workforce capacity during emergencies.
Platforms and workers operating under federal agreements receive liability protections for emergency response activities, reducing legal risk and making participation in surge staffing more attractive.
State regulators may lose control over professional licensure standards when federal-facilitated waivers allow out-of-state contractors to practice temporarily, weakening state-level oversight.
Liability protections and FTCA deeming could reduce patients' ability to sue private platforms or contractors for harms except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, limiting legal recourse for harmed patients.
Relying on platform vetting and expedited procedures risks variable verification standards across states, which could harm care quality or safety for patients during deployments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows the federal government to certify private health-care workforce platforms and enter agreements to deploy independent-contractor clinicians across states during declared emergencies.
Introduced December 9, 2025 by David Rouzer · Last progress December 9, 2025
Authorizes the federal government to certify private “health care workforce platforms” (apps or services that connect independent-contractor clinicians) and enter voluntary agreements to help deploy credentialed independent-contractor health workers during federally declared emergencies. It directs the President to coordinate with states to facilitate temporary licensure waivers for out-of-state contractors, issue model procedures for states, require annual reporting to Congress on use of licensure waivers, and provide limited liability protections for workers and platforms acting under the authority, with exceptions for willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad faith. The bill also deems private entities acting under federal contract or direction during covered emergencies to be government employees for purposes of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and directs the President to issue implementing regulations about FTCA applicability. Agreements with certified platforms must last at least one year, and the President may set certification criteria and model procedures for state adoption.