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    <updateDate>2023-01-11T13:40:57Z</updateDate>
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    <originChamber>Senate</originChamber>
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    <introducedDate>2018-11-13</introducedDate>
    <congress>115</congress>
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        <systemCode>ssfi00</systemCode>
        <name>Finance Committee</name>
        <chamber>Senate</chamber>
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            <name>Referred to</name>
            <date>2018-11-13T20:40:20Z</date>
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      <item>
        <title>Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2017</title>
        <congress>115</congress>
        <number>4133</number>
        <type>HR</type>
        <latestAction>
          <actionDate>2017-10-27</actionDate>
          <text>Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.</text>
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            <name>Finance Committee</name>
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        <sourceSystem>
          <name>Senate</name>
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        <text>Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.</text>
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        <actionDate>2018-11-13</actionDate>
        <text>Introduced in Senate</text>
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          <name>Library of Congress</name>
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    <sponsors>
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        <bioguideId>P000603</bioguideId>
        <fullName>Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]</fullName>
        <firstName>Rand</firstName>
        <lastName>Paul</lastName>
        <party>R</party>
        <state>KY</state>
        <isByRequest>N</isByRequest>
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    <cosponsors>
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        <bioguideId>M001153</bioguideId>
        <fullName>Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]</fullName>
        <firstName>Lisa</firstName>
        <lastName>Murkowski</lastName>
        <party>R</party>
        <state>AK</state>
        <sponsorshipDate>2018-11-26</sponsorshipDate>
        <isOriginalCosponsor>False</isOriginalCosponsor>
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    <policyArea>
      <name>Health</name>
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      <policyArea>
        <name>Health</name>
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    <summaries>
      <summary>
        <versionCode>00</versionCode>
        <actionDate>2018-11-13</actionDate>
        <actionDesc>Introduced in Senate</actionDesc>
        <updateDate>2019-09-03T18:36:00Z</updateDate>
        <text><![CDATA[ <p><b>Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of </b><b>2018</b></p> <p>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, </s />physical or occupational therapist, qualified speech-language pathologist, or qualified audiologist.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>The bill preempts state laws from limiting the amount of charges for physician and practitioner services for which Medicare payment is made.</p>]]></text>
      </summary>
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    <title>Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2018</title>
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        <title>Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2018</title>
      </item>
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        <titleType>Official Title as Introduced</titleType>
        <title>A bill 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.</title>
        <billTextVersionName>Introduced in Senate</billTextVersionName>
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        <title>Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2018</title>
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        <type>Introduced in Senate</type>
        <date>2018-11-13T05:00:00Z</date>
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    <latestAction>
      <actionDate>2018-11-13</actionDate>
      <text>Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.</text>
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    <dc:rights>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.</dc:rights>
    <dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
    <dc:description>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.</dc:description>
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