[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1769 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1769

  To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require that, in 
  considering the application of a hospital to change its geographic 
classification for purposes of determining the amount of payment to the 
 hospital for the operating costs of inpatient hospital services under 
   part A of the medicare program, the Secretary of Health and Human 
  Services find the hospital's wages to be comparable to the wages of 
 hospitals in the geographic area in which the hospital is applying to 
be classified if the average hourly wage of the hospital is at least 85 
   percent of the average hourly wage of hospitals paid in such area.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 21, 1993

 Mr. Thomas of Wyoming (for himself, Mr. Gunderson, Mr. Slattery, Mr. 
 Roberts, Mr. Emerson, Mr. Lancaster, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. 
Barrett of Nebraska, and Mr. Strickland) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require that, in 
  considering the application of a hospital to change its geographic 
classification for purposes of determining the amount of payment to the 
 hospital for the operating costs of inpatient hospital services under 
   part A of the medicare program, the Secretary of Health and Human 
  Services find the hospital's wages to be comparable to the wages of 
 hospitals in the geographic area in which the hospital is applying to 
be classified if the average hourly wage of the hospital is at least 85 
   percent of the average hourly wage of hospitals paid in such area.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Hospital Payment Equity Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. WAGE COMPARABILITY REQUIREMENT MET IF HOSPITAL WAGE IS 85 
              PERCENT OR MORE OF WAGES IN AREA IN WHICH HOSPITAL 
              APPLIES TO BE CLASSIFIED.

    (a) In General.--Section 1886(d)(10)(D) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(10)(D)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); and
            (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following new clause:
    ``(ii) The Board shall find that a hospital meets any guidelines 
published under clause (i)(I) for comparing hospital wages if the 
average hourly wage of the hospital is at least 85 percent of the 
average hourly wage of hospitals paid in the area in which the hospital 
is applying to be classified.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to geographic classifications and reclassifications for hospitals 
under section 1886(d)(10)(C) of the Social Security Act for fiscal 
years beginning on or after October 1, 1993.

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