Medicare expands free PAD screening to prevent amputations in at-risk seniors
H.R. 307 — ARC Act of 2025 · Filed by LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) · 44 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 9, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires Medicare and Medicaid to cover peripheral artery disease (PAD) screening tests for at-risk beneficiaries without cost-sharing (copays, coinsurance, deductibles). It defines at-risk groups (seniors 65+, people 50–64 with atherosclerosis risk factors, younger people with diabetes plus another risk factor, and those with known arterial disease elsewhere). The bill also funds a CDC education program, establishes quality measures to reduce amputations, and creates a pilot program testing amputation-prevention services at hospitals.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward Medicare/Medicaid coverage mandate for PAD screening without cost-sharing, paired with education and quality-improvement initiatives. It is a public-health measure, not a tax provision, subsidy, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- The bill defines 'at-risk beneficiary' broadly enough to potentially cover millions of Medicare/Medicaid enrollees, creating an open-ended federal coverage obligation with no explicit spending cap or sunset.
- The Secretary retains discretion to expand the definition of 'peripheral artery disease screening test' to include 'such other items and services as [the Secretary] determines…to be appropriate,' potentially broadening coverage beyond the named tests (ankle-brachial index, arterial duplex scans).
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
diagnostic imaging providers (ultrasound, duplex scan facilities); vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists; hospital outpatient departments