[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1326 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1326

 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for medicaid 
   coverage of all certified nurse practitioners and clinical nurse 
                         specialists services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 28, 1997

  Mr. Daschle introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for medicaid 
   coverage of all certified nurse practitioners and clinical nurse 
                         specialists services.

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

SECTION 1. MEDICAID COVERAGE OF ALL CERTIFIED NURSE PRACTITIONER AND 
              CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST SERVICES.

    (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 clinical nurse specialist (as 
        defined in subsection (v)) 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) Clinical Nurse Specialist Defined.--Section 1905 of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1396d) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(v) The term `clinical nurse specialist' means an individual 
who--
            ``(1) is a registered nurse and is licensed to practice 
        nursing in the State in which the clinical nurse specialist 
        services are performed; and
            ``(2) holds a master's degree in a defined area of clinical 
        nursing from an accredited educational institution.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
become effective with respect to payments for calendar quarters 
beginning on or after January 1, 1998.
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