A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a temporary moratorium on enforcement of the cap amount on payments for hospice care under the Medicare program, and for other purposes

2008·0.17 MB·English

by  United States. Congress. House

TciASLib-arv
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IIOti2ii)(SMk)sXs(iJo1x{ESS H. R. 5542
Toiiniciul titlt"XVIII oftheSociiil SecurityAct toprovidefori\ tcinporiii-y
inor;itoriiimonenforcementoftiieciipinnount on pnynientsforliospice
ciireundertlie.MedicareProurani,andforotiierpurposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATR^S
Mahcii().2008
Mr.Sri.MV.w(forliiniself,Mr. I>()i;i-:\,.Mr. LrcAS,Mi-.Colkof()klalioniii,
-Ms. Falli.x, Mr. PiCKl-:i;i.\(i, .Mr. .Makciiant, .Mr. Tiiompsoxof.Mis-
sissippi, .Mr. lio.x.MCK, .Mr. Skssioxs. .Mr. T.WLou. and Mr. I'lULLof
.\ew .Mexico) introduced tlie foilowint'- hill; wiiicii was ivfei-red to tlie
ConiniitteeonWaysandMeans,andinadditiontotlieConiniitteeonKn-
ei-f>yand (Commerce,fora period tol)esni)se(|uentlydeterniined bythe
Speaker, ineachcaseforconsiderationofsucli provisionsasfahwitiiin
thejurisdictionofthecommitteeconcei-ned
A
BILL
To amend title XVlll ofthe Social SecurityAct to ])ro\i(le
for a temijorary moratorium on enforcement of the ca])
amountoni)a^TOentsforhospicecareundertheMechcare
Proo^-am, andforotherpui'i)oses.
1 Be itenactedbytheSenateandHouseofRepresenta-
2 tivesoftheUnitedStatesofAmericain Congressassembled,
3 SECTION1.SHORTTITLE.
4 ThisAct maybe cited as the "Presening^Accessto
5 Hospice(PATH)Actof2008".
—
2
1 SEC.2.TEMPORARYMORATORIUMOFENFORCEMENTOF
2 HOSPICECAPAMOUNT.
3 Section 1814(i)(2) of the Social Security Act (42
4 U.S.C. 1395f(i)(2))isamended—
5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by strikino- "The
6 amount" and inserting- "Subject to subparag:i-aph
7 (E),theamount"; and
8 (2)byad(hng-attlieendthefo^o^\^ngnewsub-
9 i)aragTai)h:
10 "(E) During the jjeriod beginnuig on No-
ll vember 1, 2005 and ending on October 31,
12 2008, the i)a,Mnent hmitation under subjjara-
13 grai)h (A) shall not ap])lywith resi)ect to lios-
14 pice care provided by (or under arrangements
15 made by) a hospice program during such i)e-
16 riod. In the casewhere a hospice program has
17 made anypayments to the program under this
18 part as of the date of enactment of tliis sub-
19 paragraphthatwerenotrequiredtobemadeas
20 a result of the i)rece(hng sentence, the Sec-
21 retary shall not be required to reimburse the
22 hospice program for the amount of such pay-
23 ments.".
24 SEC.3.MEDPACSTUDYANDREPORTONHOSPICECARE.
25 (a) STrnv.—The Medicare PaymentAd^^sory Com-
26 missionshallconductastudyon
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1 (1) the resource effectiveness and quality of
2 lios])ice care as a sul)stitute benefit for other acute
3 care alternativesundei-the Medicai-eprogramunder
XVm
4 title oftheSocial SecurityAct;
5 (2) the optimal median and average length of
6 stayinhospicecareundertheMe(hcarei)rogTam;
7 (3) the reasons fori)ersistentlylowmedian and
8 average length of stay in hospice care under the
9 Mechcare i)rogTam, and regionalvariations in timely
10 accesstohospicecareundersuchi)rocri-am; and
11 (4) the desirability ofrequiring a national eov-
12 erage determination (as defined in section
13 1869(f)(1)(B) ofthe Social SecurityAct (42 U.S.C.
14 1395ff(f)(l)(B)) in determining ehgibihty for lios-
15 i)icecareundertheMe(hcareprogram.
16 (b) Repokt.—Not later than 12 months after the
17 dateofenactmentofthisAct, theConnnission shall sub-
18 mitareportonthestudyconductedundersubsection (a),
19 togetherv^ithreconnnendationsforsuchlegislationorad-
20 ministrative action as the Commission determines appro-
21 priate.
22 (c) HospK'E Care Defixed.—In this section, the
23 term "hospice care" hasthe meaninggiven suchtermin
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3 ams 0DQ1D1L5 5
1 section 1861((kl) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
2 1395x((kl)).
O
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