[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2611 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2611

  To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to enable Medicare 
 beneficiaries to remain enrolled in their chosen Medicare health plan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

              October 9 (legislative day, October 2), 1998

  Mr. Roth (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Mack) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to enable Medicare 
 beneficiaries to remain enrolled in their chosen Medicare health plan.

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

SECTION 1. REFORM OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATED TO MEDICARE+CHOICE 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Submission of Proposed Premiums and Related Information.--
Section 1854(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-
24(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``May 1'' and inserting ``July 15''; and
            (2) by inserting ``(which may include the requirement of an 
        interim submission prior to such date)'' after ``specified by 
        the Secretary''.
    (b) Notice of Termination to Secretary.--Section 1857(c)(1) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-27(c)(1)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ``A Medicare+Choice organization shall provide 
notice of an intention to terminate a contract under this section at 
the end of the current term of the contract to the Secretary by not 
later than July 15 of such term.''.
    (c) Previous Terminations.--Section 1857(c)(4) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-27(c)(4)) is amended by striking ``5-year 
period'' and inserting ``3-year period''.
    (d) Reconsideration of Updated Submissions.--
            (1) In general.--An applicable organization (as defined in 
        paragraph (3)) may resubmit an updated version of the 
        information described in subparagraph (C) of that paragraph to 
        the Secretary of Health and Human Services by not later than 10 
        days after the date of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Timely reconsideration of information in order to 
        provide seamless continuation of coverage.--If an applicable 
        organization resubmits information to the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall act on such information in such a manner as to ensure 
        that, if approved, such organization may convert its current 
        contract to a contract to offer a Medicare+Choice plan under 
        part C of title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1395w-21 et seq.) effective January 1, 1999.
            (3) Applicable organization defined.--In this subsection, 
        the term ``applicable organization'' means an eligible 
        organization under section 1876 of the Social Security Act (42 
        U.S.C. 1395mm) that, with respect to an area--
                    (A) has a risk-sharing contract under such section 
                in effect for 1998;
                    (B) notified the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services on or before the date of enactment of this Act 
                that it does not plan to convert such contract to a 
                contract to offer a Medicare+Choice plan under part C 
                of title XVIII of such Act effective on January 1, 
                1999; and
                    (C) submitted proposed premiums and related 
                information (including the adjusted community rate for 
                benefits to be offered) to the Secretary prior to the 
                notification described in subparagraph (B) in order to 
                convert such contract to a Medicare+Choice plan 
                effective on January 1, 1999.