Medicare Equal Access to Care Act of 2002

H.R. 4752, the Medicare Equal Access to Care Act of 2002, was designed to prevent healthcare providers from charging Medicare patients extra fees as a condition of receiving treatment. Specifically, the bill would have prohibited doctors from requiring patients to pay membership dues, "concierge" fees, or other incidental charges before providing services covered by Medicare. The legislation aimed to ensure that access to medical care remained based on Medicare eligibility rather than a patient's ability to pay additional out-of-pocket costs for non-covered items or services.