MGMA urges Congress to repeal Section 510 in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill regarding patient ID (May 2, 2025)

May 5, 2025

Dear Senate and House Appropriations Leadership,

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we urge you to reject the inclusion of outdated rider language in Section 510 of the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill that prohibits the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from spending any federal dollars to promulgate or adopt a national unique patient health identifier standard.

For more than 25 years, innovation and industry progress has been stifled due to a narrow interpretation of this language, included in Labor-HHS bills since FY99. Without the ability of clinicians to correctly connect a patient with their medical record, lives have been lost and medical errors have needlessly occurred. These are situations that could have been avoided had patients been able to be accurately identified and matched with their records.

View the full Senate letter

View the full House letter