[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5037 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5037

To establish a Bipartisan Health Care Reform Commission to analyze and 
          make recommendations concerning health care reform.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 13, 1994

Mr. Gekas introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to 
the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Armed Services, 
Post Office and Civil Service, Education and Labor, Veterans' Affairs, 
                               and Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a Bipartisan Health Care Reform Commission to analyze and 
          make recommendations concerning health care reform.

    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 ``Bipartisan Health Care Reform 
Commission Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established an independent commission 
to be known as the Bipartisan Health Care Reform Commission (in this 
Act referred to as the ``Commission'').
    (b) Appointment.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall consist of--
                    (A) 3 members appointed by the President, not more 
                than 2 of whom may be members of the same political 
                party;
                    (B) 2 members appointed by the Majority Leader of 
                the Senate;
                    (C) 2 members appointed by the Minority Leader of 
                the Senate;
                    (D) 2 members appointed by the Majority Leader of 
                the House of Representatives; and
                    (E) 2 members appointed by the Minority Leader of 
                the House of Representatives.
            (2) Qualifications of members.--Members shall be appointed 
        on the basis of their expertise and national recognition in the 
        fields of health economics, provider reimbursement, health 
        insurance, health benefits design, and related fields. No 
        Member of Congress may be appointed to serve as a member of the 
        Commission.
    (c) Term.--Members of the Commission shall be appointed not later 
than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall 
serve for the life of the Commission.
    (d) Vacancy.--A vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its 
powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original 
appointment.
    (e) Availability of Funds.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall make available, from amounts appropriated to the 
Secretary, such staff and funds as may be necessary to carry out the 
work of the Commission.
    (f) No Compensation Except Travel Expenses.--Members of the 
Commission shall serve without compensation, but the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall provide that each member shall receive 
travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in 
accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
    (g) Quorum; Chairman.--Six members of the Commission shall 
constitute a quorum. The President shall designate one member of the 
Commission to serve as chairman.

SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES.

    (a) Analyses and Recommendations.--The Commission shall--
            (1) conduct an analysis of the health care systems of the 
        States, as well as proposed or enacted reforms of such systems;
            (2) conduct an analysis of the problems relating to 
        programs and policies of the Federal Government relating to 
        health care, including Federal health insurance programs (such 
        as the medicare and medicaid programs), health programs of the 
        various Departments, and tax policies as they relate to health 
        care and health insurance;
            (3) analyze private sector health systems, including 
        various employer plans and innovative delivery systems; and
            (4) make recommendations on reforms that the Congress 
        should consider in response to the findings of the analyses.
    (b) Hearings.--The Commission shall hold at least 5 public 
hearings. The topics of the hearings shall be established in 
consultation with the officials that appointed members to the 
Commission.
    (c) Report.--Not later than April 30, 1995, the Commission shall 
submit a report to the Congress on the state of health care in the 
United States. Such report shall include analyses of the following 
issues:
            (1) The rate of growth in health care costs by type of 
        provider, by type of payer, and by State.
            (2) The utility of various mechanisms to empower purchasers 
        of health care with information about comparative cost, 
        quality, and access, including the effect of such information 
        on patient's behavior in the medical marketplace.
            (3) The success or failure of different types of group 
        health plans, such as plans that use medical savings accounts, 
        managed care plans, plans offered through voluntary purchasing 
        cooperatives, and traditional indemnity plans, in cost, 
        quality, and access.
            (4) The success or failure of various Medicaid reform 
        proposals, including the use of managed care, the use of 
        vouchers to permit purchase of private insurance, and 
        prioritization of benefits.
    (d) Legislative Proposal.--If the Commission recommends changes 
which requires legislation to implement, the Commission shall include 
in its report under subsection (c) a detailed legislative proposal 
providing for implementation of the recommendations.

SEC. 4. CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.

    (a) Introduction and Referral.--
            (1) In general.--If the report of the Commission under 
        section 3--
                    (A) includes a detailed legislative proposal under 
                section 3(d), and
                    (B) is accompanied by a statement provided by the 
                Director of the Congressional Budget Office under 
                subsection (h) that the enactment of the proposal will 
                not result in any increase in the Federal deficit in 
                each of the 10 fiscal years beginning after the date of 
                submittal of the report,
        the majority leader (or the leader's designee) in each House 
        shall introduce (by request and not later than 7 days after the 
        date of receipt by Congress of the report) the legislative 
        proposal as a bill. The title of that bill shall be ``A bill to 
        carry out the recommendations of the Bipartisan Health Care 
        Reform Commission.''.
            (2) Referral.--That bill shall be referred on the date of 
        introduction to the appropriate committee (or committees) in 
        accordance with rules of the respective Houses.
    (b) Discharge Deadline.--If any committee to which the bill is 
referred does not report the bill by the end of the 45-day period 
beginning on the date the bill was referred to the committee, the 
committee shall be automatically discharged from further consideration 
of the bill as of the end of such period.
    (c) Floor Consideration.--
            (1) House of representatives.--For the purpose of 
        expediting consideration and passage of a bill reported or 
        discharged under this section, the Committee on Rules of the 
        House of Representatives shall report a privileged resolution 
        providing for the consideration of the bill and amendments 
        thereto under an open rule and for a period of unlimited debate 
        before the consideration of amendments to the bill. If such a 
        bill differs from the recommendation of the Commission, any 
        such resolution shall make in order an amendment consisting of 
        the text of the Commission's recommendations.
            (2) Senate.--[LANGUAGE TO BE INSERTED LATER]
    (d) Final Passage.--A vote on final passage of the bill shall be 
taken in a House not later than the end of the 15-day period beginning 
on the date on which the motion to proceed to its consideration in that 
House has been approved.
    (e) Special Rules.--If the House of Representatives approves a bill 
and the Senate approves a bill the text of which is identical to the 
text of the bill approved by the House of Representatives, the Senate 
is deemed to have approved the bill approved by the House of 
Representatives, effective on the later of--
            (1) the date of approval of a bill in the Senate, or
            (2) the date the Senate receives a message from the House 
        of Representatives announcing that the House has passed the 
        bill.
    (f) Rules of House of Representatives and Senate.--This section is 
enacted by the Congress--
            (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of 
        Representatives and of the Senate, respectively, or of that 
        House to which they specifically apply and such rules supersede 
        other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent 
        therewith, and
            (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        either House to change such rules (so far as relating to such 
        House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent 
        as in the case of any other rule of that House.
    (g) Not Including Certain Days.--Days on which a House of Congress 
is not in session because of an adjournment of more than 3 days shall 
be excluded in the computation of any number of days in a period under 
this section with respect to that House.
    (h) Congressional Budget Office Determinations.--The Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office, upon request of the Commission or an 
appropriate committee, shall--
            (1) review any bill to be proposed by the Commission or the 
        committee to determine if the enactment of the bill would 
        result in any increase in the Federal deficit in any of the 10 
        fiscal years beginning after the date on which the request is 
        made, and
            (2) provide a written statement of such determination.
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