Bill
S.J.Res. 198 (119th): A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services relating to "Medicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model".
A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services relating to "Medicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model".
Summary
Recorded summary
This joint resolution would nullify a July 1, 2025 CMS notice implementing the WISeR Model, a six-year Medicare test in New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and Washington. Under the model, contracted companies use enhanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to process prior authorization requests for certain services before they are furnished. Contractors are paid based on a share of resulting savings. CMS began implementation on January 1, 2026. The resolution would bar CMS from continuing the model and from reissuing a substantially similar rule.
Theological note: Scripture grants government a duty of stewardship and just administration of resources, which bears on public payment systems. Care for the sick and for the vulnerable also bears on whether coverage decisions are made with honest, humane, and accountable judgment. Concerns about delayed or denied care, and about payment structures that reward savings for contractors, touch on the question of whether administrative efficiency serves the neighbor or the balance sheet. These are issues of stewardship and justice, but the record does not establish a clear moral evil in the rule itself.
Scoring
How this bill is scored
- Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
- Lane: healthcare_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
- Lane: medicare_administration. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
- Lane: prior_authorization. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
- Lane: regulation_disapproval. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
- Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
- Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
- Roll 199: On the Motion to Proceed S.J.Res. 198. Vote type: cloture.
- Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The rule is a prudential administrative experiment in Medicare utilization review. It has legitimate goals of reducing waste and testing accuracy, but it raises real concerns about AI-driven prior authorization, delayed or denied care, and contractor pay tied to savings. Those concerns are serious enough to keep the classification from being purely prudential, but the metadata does not show direct moral harm, so the measure is best classed as mixed rather than evil or good.
- Theological note: Scripture grants government a duty of stewardship and just administration of resources, which bears on public payment systems. Care for the sick and for the vulnerable also bears on whether coverage decisions are made with honest, humane, and accountable judgment. Concerns about delayed or denied care, and about payment structures that reward savings for contractors, touch on the question of whether administrative efficiency serves the neighbor or the balance sheet. These are issues of stewardship and justice, but the record does not establish a clear moral evil in the rule itself.
Debt and war Cloture and Tier 1 Procedural votes Scoring mechanics
Roll
Recorded votes
Roll 199 · July 16, 2026, 01:25 PM · On the Motion to Proceed S.J.Res. 198 · Motion to Proceed Rejected (46-50)
Yea
- ALSOBROOKS, ANGELA
- BALDWIN, TAMMY
- BENNET, MICHAEL F.
- BLUMENTHAL, RICHARD
- BLUNT ROCHESTER, LISA
- BOOKER, CORY A.
- CANTWELL, MARIA
- COONS, CHRISTOPHER A.
- CORTEZ MASTO, CATHERINE
- DUCKWORTH, L. TAMMY
- DURBIN, RICHARD J.
- FETTERMAN, JOHN KARL
- GALLEGO, RUBEN
- GILLIBRAND, KIRSTEN
- HASSAN, MARGARET WOOD
- HEINRICH, MARTIN
- HICKENLOOPER, JOHN W.
- HIRONO, MAZIE K.
- KAINE, TIMOTHY MICHAEL
- KELLY, MARK
- KIM, ANDY
- KING, ANGUS S. JR.
- KLOBUCHAR, AMY
- LUJAN, BEN RAY
- MARKEY, EDWARD SEN.
- MERKLEY, JEFFREY ALAN
- MURRAY, PATTY
- OSSOFF, T. JONATHAN
- PADILLA, ALEX
- PETERS, GARY
- REED, JOHN F.
- ROSEN, JACKY
- SANDERS, BERNARD
- SCHATZ, BRIAN
- SCHIFF, ADAM
- SCHUMER, CHARLES E.
- SHAHEEN, JEANNE
- SLOTKIN, ELISSA
- SMITH, TINA
- VAN HOLLEN, CHRIS
- WARNER, MARK ROBERT
- WARNOCK, RAPHAEL
- WARREN, ELIZABETH
- WELCH, PETER
- WHITEHOUSE, SHELDON
- WYDEN, RONALD L.
Nay
- ARMSTRONG, ALAN
- BANKS, JAMES E. HON.
- BARRASSO, JOHN A
- BLACKBURN, MARSHA MRS.
- BOOZMAN, SEN. JOHN
- BRITT, KATIE BOYD
- BUDD, THEODORE P
- CAPITO, SHELLEY MOORE
- CASSIDY, WILLIAM M.
- COLLINS, SUSAN M.
- CORNYN, JOHN SEN
- COTTON, THOMAS
- CRAMER, KEVIN MR.
- CRAPO, MICHAEL D
- CRUZ, RAFAEL EDWARD TED
- CURTIS, JOHN
- DAINES, STEVE
- ERNST, JONI K
- FISCHER, DEBRA S.
- GRAHAM NORDONE, DARLINE
- GRASSLEY, CHARLES E
- HAWLEY, JOSHUA DAVID SEN
- HOEVEN, JOHN
- HUSTED, JON
- HYDE-SMITH, CINDY
- JOHNSON, RON HAROLD MR.
- JUSTICE, JAMES CONLEY II
- KENNEDY, JOHN NEELY
- LANKFORD, JAMES PAUL
- LEE, MIKE
- LUMMIS, CYNTHIA MARIE MRS.
- MARSHALL, ROGER W
- MCCORMICK, DAVE
- MOODY, ASHLEY
- MORAN, JERRY
- MORENO, BERNIE
- MURKOWSKI, LISA
- PAUL, RAND
- RICKETTS, PETE
- RISCH, JAMES E MR.
- ROUNDS, MIKE
- SCHMITT, ERIC
- SCOTT, RICK SEN
- SCOTT, TIMOTHY E.
- SHEEHY, TIM
- SULLIVAN, DAN
- THUNE, JOHN R.
- TILLIS, THOM R SEN
- TUBERVILLE, THOMAS H
- YOUNG, TODD CHRISTOPHER