Medicare will pay for lightweight wheelchairs made from special materials.
H.R. 1703 — Choices for Increased Mobility Act of 2026 · Filed by John Joyce (R-PA) · 10 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 27, 2025 · Passed both chambers
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What it does
Starting January 1, 2028, Medicare will create new codes for lightweight wheelchairs. These wheelchairs are made from titanium or carbon fiber. Medicare will pay suppliers a set amount for them. Suppliers can charge patients extra money if the chair costs more.
Who it affects
People on Medicare who use wheelchairs will have new options. They may have to pay extra money out of pocket. Wheelchair suppliers can charge patients the gap between cost and payment.
One thing to notice
The bill does not limit how much extra suppliers can charge. Patients with less money might not afford these lighter chairs.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
10 cosponsors: 6 Republicans, 4 Democrats.
- Feb 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a…”
- May 13, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- May 21, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 45 - 0”
- Jul 20, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4636-4637)”
- Jul 20, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Guthrie moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
8 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 12 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $1,560,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 6 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 88% of bills with any report.
John Joyce, who sponsored the bill, received $1,498,437 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- American Association for Homecare — $800,000 in 2 reports
- Medline — $400,000 in 1 report
- American Association for Homecare (aahomecare) — $140,000 in 2 reports
- American Association for Homecare (aahomecare) — $120,000 in 2 reports
- Permobil, Inc. — $60,000 in 2 reports
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- titanium — A strong, light metal used to make wheelchairs.
- carbon fiber — A strong, light material made from carbon used in wheelchairs.
- gap — The extra money a patient pays when cost is higher than Medicare pays.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,991 characters) on Jul 11, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-11-01.
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