[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3698 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3698

    To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to continue State 
 Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments for fiscal 
        years 2001 and 2002 at the levels for fiscal year 2000.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 16, 2000

 Mr. Whitfield (for himself and Mr. Bilbray) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to continue State 
 Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments for fiscal 
        years 2001 and 2002 at the levels for fiscal year 2000.

    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 ``Medicaid DSH Preservation Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In late January 2000, the Congressional Budget Office 
        released its revised baselines for fiscal year 2001 spending 
        programs and projections for fiscal years 2001 through 2005. 
        These figures revealed that the hospital cuts imposed by the 
        Balanced Budget Act of 1997 are not only continuing, but are 
        having a far greater impact than originally anticipated. In 
        fact, the latest projections of that Office show reductions 
        that are more than four times the $15 billion Congress added 
        back in fall of 1999, as part of the bipartisan Medicare, 
        Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999.
            (2) Since passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, 
        Federal health program spending is projected to be cut by more 
        than $226 billion--approximately $123 billion more than 
        Congress or the Administration ever intended. From November 19, 
        1999, when Congress passed the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP 
        Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999, to the end of January 
        2000, the Congressional Budget Office now estimates that 
        Federal hospital spending will be far less than originally 
        anticipated--$62 billion less than it projected just two months 
        ago.
            (3) Additionally, during 1999 total Medicare spending fell 
        by almost one percent--the first absolute spending reduction in 
        Medicare history, and the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust 
        Fund (which provides payment for inpatient hospital and nursing 
        home services) fell by an alarming 4.4 percent.
            (4) The result--despite the best efforts of many in 
        Congress and the Administration--is a continuing erosion of the 
        foundation of the nation's hospitals and the long term 
        viability of our country's health care system.

SEC. 3. CONTINUATION OF MEDICAID DSH ALLOTMENTS AT FY FISCAL YEAR 2000 
              LEVELS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2001 AND 2002.

    Section 1923(f) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r-4(f)), 
as amended by section 601 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced 
Budget Refinement Act of 1999 (as enacted into law by section 
1000(a)(6) of Public Law 106-113), is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding the table, by striking 
                ``2002'' and inserting ``2000'';
                    (B) in the table in such paragraph, by striking the 
                columns labeled ``FY 01'' and ``FY 02'' relating to 
                fiscal years 2001 and 2002; and
            (2) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by striking ``2003'' in the heading and 
                inserting ``2001''; and
                    (B) by striking ``2003'' and inserting ``2001''.
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