Medicare tightens rules on artificial limbs to protect patients, cut fraud

What it does

This bill amends Medicare rules for orthotics and prosthetics (artificial limbs and braces) to protect beneficiaries and reduce fraud. It prohibits Medicare from paying for orthotics and prosthetics delivered via 'drop shipment' (direct shipment without prior training from a qualified practitioner), expands the list of practitioners who can prescribe these items without going through competitive bidding, and ensures beneficiaries can access replacement custom-fitted and custom-fabricated orthotics. The bill aims to ensure patients receive proper fitting and training while cutting waste.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a safety and anti-fraud measure: it blocks a delivery method (drop shipment) that bypasses practitioner training, expands access to qualified practitioners, and ensures beneficiaries can replace custom devices. The civic intent is patient protection and waste reduction, not market deregulation or private benefit.

What the text implies

• Drop-shipment ban may reduce access speed for some beneficiaries if practitioner capacity is limited, though the bill's expansion of eligible practitioners (PT, OT, orthotist, prosthetist) is designed to mitigate this.
• Competitive acquisition exemption for expanded practitioner list may increase Medicare costs if these practitioners charge higher rates than competitive-bid suppliers, though the bill frames this as a patient-safety trade-off.
• Regulations required within 1 year; implementation details (e.g., what constitutes 'training,' how 'drop shipment' is verified) will be critical to the ban's effectiveness and may create compliance burden on suppliers.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Medicare beneficiaries with limb loss and orthopedic conditions gain protections: they cannot receive orthotics/prosthetics without proper training and fitting (reducing harm from ill-fitting devices), they gain access to a broader range of qualified practitioners (faster care), and they retain access to replacement custom-fitted devices. The drop-shipment ban targets fraud and waste while protecting patient safety.

Who stands to gain

• qualified orthotists and prosthetists (expanded practitioner access)
• physical therapists and occupational therapists (newly eligible to prescribe without competitive bid

Named in the bill

Medicare (Title XVIII, Social Security Act), Secretary of Health and Human Services, HCPCS codes, Section 1834(h)(1), Section 1847(a)(7)(A)(i), qualified practitioners (physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, orthotists, prost

Where it stands

31 cosponsors: 21 Democrats, 10 Republicans.

• Jul 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 17, 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…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $488,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 6 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Glenn Thompson, the sponsor, reported $1,046,943 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (aota) — $378,000 on 2 filings
• American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association — $60,000 on 2 filings
• American Society of Hand Therapists — $50,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.