SJRES 198 — Congress 119
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".
Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/198
Congress.gov subjects: Health
Issues impacted: Regulation & Agency Oversight (ai, high), Healthcare (taxonomy, high), Social Security & Medicare (taxonomy, high)
Official bill text (stored)
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119 SJ 198 PCS: 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”. U.S. Senate 2026-06-24 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. IIA Calendar No. 447 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. J. RES. 198 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 24, 2026 Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mrs. Murray , Ms. Cantwell , Mr. Blumenthal , Mrs. Gillibrand , Mr. Gallego , Mr. Kelly , Mr. Booker , Mr. Markey , Ms. Duckworth , Ms. Baldwin , Mr. Kim , Mr. Sanders , Ms. Warren , Mr. Warner , Ms. Smith , Mr. Luján , Mr. Merkley , Mr. Durbin , and Mrs. Shaheen ) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance June 24, 2026 Committee discharged, by petition, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 802(c) , and placed on the calendar 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 . That Congress disapproves 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 (published on July 1, 2025, and a letter of opinion from the Government Accountability Office dated May 12, 2026, printed in the Congressional Record on May 14, 2026, on pages S2299–S2302, concluding that such Notice is a rule under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code), and such rule shall have no force or effect. June 24, 2026 Committee discharged, by petition, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 802(c) , and placed on the calendar
Plain-English summary
Confidence: high · Complexity: simple · Model: grok-4.5
This is Congress’s way of hitting the brakes on one specific Medicare rule.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS—the folks who run Medicare) put out a rule to try “prior authorization” on some services in a pilot called the WISeR model. That just means certain care would need a thumbs-up before Medicare pays, aimed at cutting wasteful or unnecessary stuff.
This joint resolution uses the Congressional Review Act—the fast-track law that lets Congress cancel an agency rule. If it passes and becomes law, that CMS rule is dead and has no effect. If it doesn’t, the rule can keep going.
People on Medicare, plus the doctors and hospitals billing for those select services, are the ones who’d feel it—either less pre-approval hassle, or less of the waste-checking the agency wanted, depending on how the rule would have played out. The text is short: it names the rule and says Congress disapproves it.
It’s already been kicked out of committee by petition and put on the Senate calendar, which is a common path for these disapproval votes when sponsors want a shot on the floor.
Related issues
How a vote maps to positions
Impartial mapping: which issue position a Yea vs Nay advances. When a bill has multiple floor votes, each roll can have its own mapping. Bill-level entries (no roll listed) apply as a default when a roll has no specific map. Used for legislator alignment.
All rolls (bill default)
| Issue | Yea advances | Nay advances | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulation & Agency Oversight | Disapprove or nullify agency rules | Preserve agency rules and standards | Yea is a CRA disapproval that strips the CMS WISeR prior-authorization rule of force and effect; Nay leaves that agency rule in place. |
| Healthcare | Status quo / reject this change | Status quo / reject this change | Nay keeps the CMS prior-authorization model for selected Medicare services. Yea blocks that rule, but the catalog has no clean pole for ending Medicare prior auth specifically. |
| Social Security & Medicare | Protect current benefit structure | Delivery, fraud control, and administration | Yea would stop added prior-authorization gates on select Medicare services; Nay keeps the agency’s waste-and-inappropriate-services integrity model. |