AHA Letter Supporting the Ensuring Access to Essential Providers Act of 2025

September 15, 2025

Dear Senators Cassidy and Luján:

On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners - including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers - and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the American Hospital Association (AHA) is pleased to support your legislation, the Ensuring Access to Essential Providers Act of 2025.

This bill would require Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to cover services provided by certain essential community providers, including a variety of different types of hospitals that the plans must negotiate with to include in their network. As a result, this bill will strengthen network adequacy and increase access to care by expanding the number of in-network providers within MA plans.

Maintaining access to care - especially for our seniors and people who live in rural and other underserved communities - continues to be a top priority for the AHA. We are grateful for your leadership on this issue and look forward to working with you to enact this important legislation.

Sincerely,

/s/

Lisa Kidder Hrobsky
Senior Vice President
Advocacy and Political Affairs