Medicare Advantage Improvement Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4384 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4384 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain reforms under the Medicare Advantage program, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 27, 2026 Mr. Marshall (for himself and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain reforms under the Medicare Advantage program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Medicare Advantage Improvement Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. IMPROVING ACCESS TO TIMELY CARE FOR ENROLLEES OF MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS. (a) Reducing Timeframes for Medicare Advantage Organizations To Respond to Certain Authorization Requests.-- (1) Standard organization determinations.--Section 1852(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w- 22(g)(1)) is amended-- (A) in subparagraph (A), in the second sentence, by inserting ``subparagraph (C) and'' after ``Subject to''; (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``Such a determination'' and inserting ``A determination described in subparagraph (A) or (C)''; and (C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(C) Required timeframes for responses to certain authorization requests.-- ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii) and paragraph (3)(B)(iii), the procedure established pursuant to subparagraph (A) by a Medicare Advantage organization offering an MA plan shall provide that in the case of a request made on or after January 1, 2028, for a specified authorization (as defined in