ICU Bed Act of 2026

This bill would require hospitals, critical access hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals in Medicare to report the number of open intensive care unit (ICU) beds in real time, starting one year after it becomes law. Each hospital would have to join a shared data system that shows its available ICU beds to other participating hospitals in the same region. Hospitals in a region would also have to keep a shared plan for transferring patients when a hospital reaches or nears ICU capacity. The federal health secretary would set the regions based on geography, population, and travel time between hospitals. The bill would also allow an existing hospital preparedness grant program to fund planning for patient transfers during public health emergencies and extend its funding through fiscal year 2031.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Jay Obernolte Republican sponsor
• 5 cosponsors