[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 258 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 258

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for mandatory 
  coverage of services furnished by nurse practitioners and clinical 
             nurse specialists under State Medicaid plans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

Mr. Richardson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for mandatory 
  coverage of services furnished by nurse practitioners and clinical 
             nurse specialists under State Medicaid plans.

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

SECTION 1. MEDICAID COVERAGE OF SERVICES FURNISHED BY CERTIFIED NURSE 
              PRACTITIONERS AND CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALISTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1905(a)(21) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396d(a)(21)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(21) services furnished by a certified nurse practitioner 
        (as defined by the Secretary) or a clinical nurse specialist 
        (as defined in subsection (t)) which the certified nurse 
        practitioner or clinical nurse specialist is legally authorized 
        to perform under State law (or the State regulatory mechanism 
        provided by State law), whether or not the certified nurse 
        practitioner or clinical nurse specialist is under the 
        supervision of, or associated with, a physician or other health 
        care provider;''.
    (b) Definition of Clinical Nurse Specialist.--Section 1905 of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(t) The term `clinical nurse specialist' means an individual who 
has earned a master's degree in a clinical area of nursing from an 
accredited institution and who is a registered nurse licensed to 
practice nursing in the State in which the individual furnishes 
services.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall apply to calendar quarters beginning on or after January 1, 1998, 
without regard to whether or not final regulations to carry out such 
amendments have been promulgated by such date.
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