The Health ACCESS Act: New Bill Opens Door for Paid Online Doctor Directories, But Adds Strict Rules Against Steering

The newly introduced Health Accelerating Consumers Care by Expediting Self-Scheduling Act, or the Health ACCESS Act, is essentially an attempt to modernize how you find and book a doctor online. It carves out a specific exception in a major federal law—the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS)—to allow healthcare providers to pay web-based platforms for directory listings and scheduling services, provided those platforms follow a strict set of rules.

Before this bill, paying a third party for patient referrals or influence was highly scrutinized under the AKS, which is designed to prevent fraud in federal healthcare programs like Medicare. This bill says providers can pay platforms (called “information service providers”) that offer a “bookable directory” to consumers, making it easier for you to self-schedule appointments online. This is a big deal because it officially sanctions the business model for digital health directories, potentially leading to more convenient scheduling options.

The Fine Print: No Steering Allowed

If you’ve ever used an online service where the ‘recommended’ choice always seems to be the one that pays the most, you know the risk here. The bill tries to shut that down with serious guardrails. For a platform to legally accept payments from a provider, it absolutely cannot steer or direct a consumer toward a specific provider based on how much that provider pays the platform. The platform must also disclose the financial relationship to you, the consumer, right up front.

What does this mean for you? If you’re a Medicare patient looking for a specialist, the search results you see should be based on “objective, consumer-focused criteria” only—think location, specialty, availability, or reviews—not on who cut the biggest check to the platform. This is a crucial protection, as it aims to keep your healthcare decisions driven by need, not by marketing dollars.

The Rules of the Road for Digital Health Platforms

The bill imposes several other conditions on these “information service providers” to ensure they stay strictly in the lane of convenience and directory services. They are explicitly forbidden from giving medical advice, offering diagnostic services, or even making promises of cure or treatment. If a platform starts trying to analyze your symptoms or suggest a specific treatment plan, they lose their legal protection under this new exception.

Furthermore, the platform cannot share your contact information with providers unless it’s the specific one you already selected for an appointment. This is designed to prevent targeted marketing spam or unwanted calls. They also can’t arrange transportation for you to get to the appointment. In short, these platforms are supposed to be smart, user-friendly digital Yellow Pages with a booking feature, nothing more.

The Cost and the Catch-22

While the convenience factor is a clear win for busy people—especially those juggling work and family who prefer booking appointments at 10 PM—there are two practical challenges to watch. First, the payments between the platform and the provider must be set beforehand and cannot exceed “fair market value.” Defining “fair market value” for a digital service in healthcare is notoriously tricky and will require heavy oversight. If these fees get too high, smaller, independent providers or those in rural areas might not be able to afford the listing, potentially limiting the choices available on the platform for consumers.

Second, the bill gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services the power to determine “any other conditions the Secretary determines necessary.” This is a standard but significant clause that means the real-world impact and safety of this new exception will depend heavily on future regulatory rules. If the rules are weak, the risk of subtle steering or inflated listing fees could rise, potentially benefiting the platforms and larger medical groups more than the average consumer.