<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
<item congress="114" measure-type="s" measure-number="2701" measure-id="id114s2701" originChamber="SENATE" orig-publish-date="2016-03-17" update-date="2016-11-02">
<title>Medicaid Program Integrity Enhancement Act of 2016</title>
<summary summary-id="id114s2701v00" currentChamber="SENATE" update-date="2016-11-02">
<action-date>2016-03-17</action-date>
<action-desc>Introduced in Senate</action-desc>
<summary-text><![CDATA[<p><strong>Medicaid Program Integrity Enhancement Act of 2016</strong></p> <p>This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require a state&nbsp;Medicaid agency&nbsp;to establish a process by which a provider may appeal a decision by the agency to suspend payment to the provider on the basis of credible fraud allegations.</p> <p>The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) must revise specified regulations&nbsp;related to such suspensions in order to&nbsp;comply with due process requirements established by the bill. </p> <p>Specifically, a state Medicaid agency may not suspend payment until the agency: (1) consults with the state's Medicaid fraud control unit or, if the state has no such unit, with the state's attorney general; (2) certifies that it has considered whether the suspension will jeopardize beneficiary access and&nbsp;whether there is good cause not to suspend payment; and (3) furnishes the provider with the agency's reasons for finding no such good cause. </p> <p>Furthermore, the agency must periodically evaluate whether there is good cause&nbsp;to discontinue&nbsp;a suspension for which an investigation is pending. With specified exceptions,&nbsp;such good cause&nbsp;shall be deemed to exist if the investigation remains unresolved after a suspension has been in effect for 18 months.</p> <p>CMS must also revise specified regulations to provide that an allegation of fraud shall be considered credible only if the allegation has indications of reliability and&nbsp;the state Medicaid agency: (1)&nbsp;has reviewed all allegations, facts, and evidence carefully; (2) acts judiciously on a case-by-case basis; and (3) has considered the potential impact a payment suspension may have on beneficiary access to care.</p>]]></summary-text>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<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 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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