[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 649 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 649

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage 
 of bone mass measurements for certain individuals under part B of the 
                           medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 24, 1997

  Ms. Snowe  (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Glenn, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. 
 Inouye, Mr. Rockefeller, and Mr. Mack) 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 provide for coverage 
 of bone mass measurements for certain individuals under part B of the 
                           medicare program.

    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 ``Medicare Bone Mass Measurement 
Standardization Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. MEDICARE COVERAGE OF BONE MASS MEASUREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (s)--
                    (A) in paragraph (12)(C), by striking ``and'' at 
                the end;
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (14) and inserting ``; and'';
                    (C) by redesignating paragraphs (15) and (16) as 
                paragraphs (16) and (17), respectively; and
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (14) the 
                following:
            ``(15) bone mass measurement (as defined in subsection 
        (oo)).''; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (nn) the following:

                        ``Bone Mass Measurement

    ``(oo)(1) The term `bone mass measurement' means a radiologic or 
radioscopic procedure or other Food and Drug Administration approved 
technology performed on a qualified individual (as defined in paragraph 
(2)) for the purpose of identifying bone mass, detecting bone loss, or 
determining bone quality, and includes a physician's interpretation of 
the results of the procedure.
    ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term `qualified 
individual' means an individual who is (in accordance with regulations 
prescribed by the Secretary)--
            ``(A) an estrogen-deficient woman at clinical risk for 
        osteoporosis and who is considering treatment;
            ``(B) an individual with vertebral abnormalities;
            ``(C) an individual receiving long-term glucocorticoid 
        steroid therapy;
            ``(D) an individual with primary hyperparathyroidism; or
            ``(E) an individual being monitored to assess the response 
        to or efficacy of an approved osteoporosis drug therapy.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Sections 1864(a), 1865(a), 
1902(a)(9)(C), and 1915(a)(1)(B)(ii)(I) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395aa(a), 1395bb(a), 1396a(a)(9)(C), and 1396n(a)(1)(B)(ii)(I)) 
are amended by striking ``paragraphs (15) and (16)'' each place it 
appears and inserting ``paragraphs (16) and (17)''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to bone mass measurements performed on or after January 1, 1998.
                                 <all>