Patients First Act of 2026

This bill makes several changes to how doctors get paid through Medicare. It creates a new option where primary care doctors can receive a monthly payment for each patient they regularly care for, covering things like check-ups, phone calls, and behavioral health services, instead of being paid separately for each visit. The bill also updates Medicare's system for rewarding doctors based on their performance by adding new measures like reducing unnecessary hospital visits, and it generally lowers the bonus or penalty amounts doctors can receive under that system. Additionally, the bill ties annual updates to doctor payment rates to inflation and sets rules to limit how much those rates can change from year to year.

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