Medicare opens caregiver access to health records, with fraud safeguards
S. 3439 — Connecting Caregivers to Medicare Act of 2025 · Filed by Thom Tillis (R-NC) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 11, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends Medicare law to allow beneficiaries to authorize family caregivers to access their personal health information by calling 1-800-MEDICARE. It requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to conduct outreach and education campaigns to inform Medicare beneficiaries, providers, and caregivers about this option, including best practices to prevent fraud and information about fraud reporting mechanisms. The bill also requires the HHS Office of Inspector General to develop and publish fraud-protection best practices within one year.
Why we flagged it
The bill's primary function is to establish a mechanism for Medicare beneficiaries to voluntarily authorize family caregivers to access health information, paired with mandatory fraud-prevention education and oversight. It is a public-health and beneficiary-protection measure, not a market-driven or industry-specific provision.
What the text implies
- Requires CMS to develop and maintain a new authorization form (CMS-10106) and associated backend systems to manage caregiver access requests, creating ongoing operational and IT costs for Medicare administration.
- Mandates multilingual outreach and education campaigns, which may increase CMS administrative burden but ensures equitable access across non-English-speaking beneficiary populations.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who it affects
The bill expands caregiver access to health information for Medicare beneficiaries who choose to authorize it, potentially improving care coordination and reducing administrative burden for elderly and disabled individuals. It includes explicit fraud-protection safeguards and transparency measures (outreach, best practices, reporting mechanisms) that protect beneficiaries from misuse of their data.