[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2342 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  2d Session
                                S. 2342

   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to exempt certain 
  facilities from the 3-year transition period under the prospective 
             payment system for skilled nursing facilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 22, 1998

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to exempt certain 
  facilities from the 3-year transition period under the prospective 
             payment system for skilled nursing facilities.

    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 ``Skilled Nursing Facility Payment 
Fairness Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES FROM 3-YEAR TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) In General.--Section 1888(e) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395yy(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph 
        (A), by striking ``paragraph (7)'' and inserting ``paragraphs 
        (7) and (11)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) Exemption of certain facilities from 3-year 
        transition.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A facility described in 
                subparagraph (B) may elect to have the amount of the 
                payment for all costs of covered skilled nursing 
                facility services for each day of such services 
                furnished determined pursuant to subparagraph (B) of 
                paragraph (1) and to be exempt from the transition 
                period described in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph.
                    ``(B) Facility described.--A facility described in 
                this subparagraph is a facility that--
                            ``(i) is providing services, the level and 
                        type of which are substantially different, as 
                        determined by the Secretary, from the level and 
                        type of the services provided by the facility 
                        in fiscal year 1995; or
                            ``(ii) was eligible for and elected to 
                        receive payments pursuant to the prospective 
                        payment system described in subsection (d) for 
                        the cost reporting period immediately preceding 
                        the facility's first cost reporting period (as 
                        defined in paragraph (2)(D)).
                    ``(C) Procedures.--The Secretary shall establish 
                procedures--
                            ``(i) for a facility to petition the 
                        appropriate intermediary for classification as 
                        a facility described in subparagraph (B)(i); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) regarding the information required 
                        to be provided by such facility in order to be 
                        so classified.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect as if included in the enactment of the Balanced Budget Act 
of 1997.
                                 <all>