RECOVER Act of 2026

What happened: On April 20, 2026, Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) introduced HR8386, the RECOVER Act. Despite its title, the bill's actual text exclusively amends the Social Security Act to reduce the payment reduction for multiple therapy services under Medicare from the current 50% to 0% for services furnished on or after January 1, 2027. The bill was referred to the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees. It has no explicit funding authorization — it simply changes a calculation method in the physician fee schedule and outpatient therapy payment rules.

The money trail: This is not an appropriations bill. No new funds are authorized or appropriated. The financial effect is an increase in Medicare Part B reimbursement to therapy providers for multiple services furnished on the same day, reverting to full payment (currently the second and subsequent services are cut by 50%). The net federal budget impact would be an increase in Medicare outlays, but no specific dollar figure is provided in the bill text.

Structural winners and losers: The direct beneficiaries are physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists providing outpatient therapy services in private practice, hospital outpatient departments, and skilled nursing facilities. However, these providers are predominantly small private practices or owned by large health systems (HCA, UHS, etc.) where therapy revenue is a minor fraction of total revenue. No pure-play public company derives a majority of revenue from Medicare Part B therapy services. The largest publicly traded rehabilitation provider, Select Medical Holdings (SEM), generates most of its revenue from long-term acute care and inpatient rehabilitation, not outpatient Part B therapy. Encompass Health (EHC) is primarily inpatient rehabilitation. Therefore, no ticker meets the causal chain specificity requirement.

Real market data context: The five DPA energy memoranda issued concurrently on April 20, 2026, are not analyzed here because they address a

different policy domain (energy infrastructure manufacturing under the Defense Production Act) and are not related to the Medicare therapy payment fix in HR8386. Per instructions, silence is correct for unrelated actions.

Timeline: The bill is at the earliest possible stage. It must pass through both the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees, then the full House, then the Senate, and be signed by the President. As a Medicare benefit expansion in a partisan environment with no companion Senate bill, passage odds are low in the 119th Congress.