Cassidy Introduces Bill to Expand Medicare Advantage Access in Rural Communities

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced the Ensuring Access to Essential Providers Act of 2025 to strengthen access to care for rural populations by ensuring Medicare Advantage (MA) plans include essential community providers (ECPs) in their networks.

"No patient should have to travel hours for care when there is a clinic or hospital in their community ready to help," said Dr. Cassidy. "This bill makes sure Louisianans in rural areas have care closer to home."

The bill is supported by the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers, the Alliance of Safety Net Hospitals, America's Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, Mental Health America, NAMI, the National Association for Behavioral Health, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, National Council of Urban Indian Health, the National Rural Health Association, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the AIDS Institute.

Cassidy was joined by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) in introducing the legislation.

The Ensuring Access to Essential Providers Act of 2025 amends Title XVIII of the Social Security Act so that MA plans:

• Contract with a broad range of essential community providers, including federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), rural hospitals, Indian Health Service facilities, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clinics, and behavioral health centers;
• Provide adequate geographic coverage for low-income, rural, and medically underserved populations;
• Justify network inadequacies when unable to meet the ECP requirement and demonstrate how they will improve access in the following plan year.

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