SAFE through Medicare Act
Key claim: This bill would have Medicare pay for medically necessary home resiliency items—such as heat pumps, backup batteries for medical equipment, and energy-efficient storage for medical supplies—for beneficiaries judged medically at risk in a climate or manmade disaster.
Abstract
(HR8749 · 119th Congress) Survival Aid For Emergencies through Medicare Act or the SAFE through Medicare Act This bill provides for Medicare coverage of medically necessary services for beneficiaries who are determined to be medically at-risk during a climate or manmade disaster (i.e., home resiliency services), such as heat pumps, batteries for medical equipment, and energy efficient storage for medical supplies. Latest action (2026-05-12): Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
Medicare has historically excluded home environmental modifications, so extending coverage to heat pumps and backup batteries would open a new benefit category tied to disaster resilience for medically vulnerable beneficiaries. If enacted, the bill would shift certain climate-adaptation costs from patients and state/utility programs to Medicare for a defined at-risk population, though it is currently only introduced and not binding.