3.0.0 4133 2023-01-11T13:38:22Z 2023-01-11T13:38:22Z House HR 2017-10-25 115 [Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 172 (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. SESSIONS:H.R. 4133.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Medicare is a health care program under current law that isoperated by the federal government. This bill would improvethe efficiency, accessibility and fairness of the operationsof this federal program, especially the purchase of servicesand freedom to contract between doctors and Medicarerecipients. This bill directly affects interstate commerce,which Congress has the power to regulate under Article I,Section 8, Clause 3.[Page H8226]]]> hsif00 Energy and Commerce Committee House Standing hsif14 Health Subcommittee Referred to 2017-10-27T20:26:13Z Referred to 2017-10-25T14:00:44Z hswm00 Ways and Means Committee House Standing Referred to 2017-10-25T14:00:49Z Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2018 115 3610 S 2018-11-13 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Related bill CRS 2017-10-27 hsif14 Health Subcommittee 1 House committee actions Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. Committee 2017-10-25 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. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hswm00 Ways and Means Committee 2017-10-25 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. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsif00 Energy and Commerce Committee 2017-10-25 Introduced in House IntroReferral Intro-H 9 Library of Congress 2017-10-25 Introduced in House IntroReferral 1000 9 Library of Congress S000250 Rep. Sessions, Pete [R-TX-32] PETE SESSIONS R TX 32 N R000582 Rep. Roe, David P. [R-TN-1] David Roe R TN P. 1 2017-10-25 True L000564 Rep. Lamborn, Doug [R-CO-5] Doug Lamborn R CO 5 2017-12-12 False C001096 Rep. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND-At Large] Kevin Cramer R ND 0 2017-12-13 False J000292 Rep. Johnson, Bill [R-OH-6] Bill Johnson R OH 6 2018-05-23 False C001077 Rep. Coffman, Mike [R-CO-6] Mike Coffman R CO 6 2018-07-16 False Health Contracts and agency Federal preemption Health care costs and insurance Health care coverage and access Health personnel Medicare State and local government operations Health 00 2017-10-25 Introduced in House 2018-06-27T12:30:28Z Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2017

This bill allows any Medicare beneficiary to enter into a contract with an eligible professional, regardless of whether the professional is a participating or non-participating physician or practitioner, for any item or service covered by Medicare. Such beneficiaries may submit a claim for Medicare payment in the amount that would otherwise apply, except that, where the professional is considered to be non-participating, payment shall be paid as if the professional were participating. An eligible professional is  a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, certified nurse-midwife, clinical social worker, clinical psychologist, physical or occupational therapist, qualified speech-language pathologist, or qualified audiologist.

A Medicare beneficiary must agree in writing in such a contract to: (1) pay the eligible professional for a Medicare-covered item or service; and (2) submit, in lieu of the eligible professional, a claim for Medicare payment. However, a beneficiary may negotiate, as a term of the contract, for the eligible professional to file such claims on the beneficiary's behalf.

The bill preempts state laws from limiting the amount of charges for physician and practitioner services for which Medicare payment is made.

]]> Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2017 Display Title Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2017 Short Titles as Introduced Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2017 Official Title as Introduced To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a Medicare payment option for patients and eligible professionals to freely contract, without penalty, for Medicare fee-for-service items and services, while allowing Medicare beneficiaries to use their Medicare benefits. Introduced in House 2017-10-25T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-115hr4133ih/xml/BILLS-115hr4133ih.xml 2017-10-27 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.