The House Appropriations Committee moved forward with an amendment that would block funding for a CMS pilot that brings prior authorization requirements to traditional Medicare.
The lawmakers adopted the amendment by voice vote June 9 during their 2027 spending bill markup. Under the provisions, “none of the funds made available” could be allocated to WISeR or similar models.
“The committee believes that any proposal to impose prior authorization requirements in traditional Medicare should be subject to robust congressional oversight and transparent evaluation of impacts on beneficiary access to care, provider burden and program costs,” the amendment said.
The amendment also called for CMS to give an update in the fiscal 2028 congressional justification regarding the selection of states and impact on patients.
Despite the amendment gaining approval, the overall spending bill has not yet passed. The same committee voted on an aligned amendment last year for the 2026 spending bill, but it did not make the final legislation, even though Democrats continued to advocate for it in January.
Announced in June 2025, the WISeR model rolled out to providers in Arizona, Washington, New Jersey, Texas, Ohio and Oklahoma in 2026. Along with the prior authorization concern, one of the program’s sticking points is CMS’ partnership with AI and machine learning companies. The American Hospital Association has been vocal about modifying the program.
The voice vote in the Republican-led committee signaled a bipartisan decision to move the amendment forward for 2027. Democrats have historically led the charge against the initiative, however, surfacing the most recent provisions in March and introducing resolutions in the House and Senate in May. Earlier in May, the Government Accountability Office decided WISeR is subject to the Congressional Review Act, granting Congress 60 days to disapprove.
Becker’s has reached out to CMS and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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