[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 256 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 256

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to promote the use of 
 universal product numbers on claims forms submitted for reimbursement 
                      under the medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 20, 1999

 Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Breaux, and Mr. Conrad) 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 promote the use of 
 universal product numbers on claims forms submitted for reimbursement 
                      under 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 Universal Product Number 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL PRODUCT NUMBERS ON CLAIMS FORMS FOR REIMBURSEMENT 
              UNDER THE MEDICARE PROGRAM.

    (a) Accommodation of UPNs on Medicare Claims Forms.--Not later than 
February 1, 2001, all claims forms developed or used by the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services for reimbursement under the medicare 
program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et 
seq.) shall accommodate the use of universal product numbers for a UPN 
covered item.
    (b) Requirement for Payment of Claims.--Title XVIII of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

                   ``use of universal product numbers

    ``Sec. 1897. (a) In General.--No payment shall be made under this 
title for any claim for reimbursement for any UPN covered item unless 
the claim contains the universal product number of the UPN covered 
item.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) UPN covered item.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), the term `UPN covered item' means--
                            ``(i) a covered item as that term is 
                        defined in section 1834(a)(13);
                            ``(ii) an item described in paragraph (8) 
                        or (9) of section 1861(s);
                            ``(iii) an item described in paragraph (5) 
                        of section 1861(s); and
                            ``(iv) any other item for which payment is 
                        made under this title that the Secretary 
                        determines to be appropriate.
                    ``(B) Exclusion.--The term `UPN covered item' does 
                not include a customized item for which payment is made 
                under this title.
            ``(2) Universal product number.--The term `universal 
        product number' means a number that is--
                    ``(A) affixed by the manufacturer to each 
                individual UPN covered item that uniquely identifies 
                the item at each packaging level; and
                    ``(B) based on commercially acceptable 
                identification standards such as, but not limited to, 
                standards established by the Uniform Code Council-
                International Article Numbering System or the Health 
                Industry Business Communication Council.''.
    (c) Development and Implementation of Procedures.--
            (1) Information included in upn.--The Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services, in consultation with manufacturers and 
        entities with appropriate expertise, shall determine the 
        relevant descriptive information appropriate for inclusion in a 
        universal product number for a UPN covered item.
            (2) Review of procedure.--From the information obtained by 
        the use of universal product numbers on claims for 
        reimbursement under the medicare program, the Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services, in consultation with interested 
        parties, shall periodically review the UPN covered items billed 
        under the Health Care Financing Administration Common Procedure 
        Coding System and adjust such coding system to ensure that 
        functionally equivalent UPN covered items are billed and 
        reimbursed under the same codes.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (b) shall 
apply to claims for reimbursement submitted on and after February 1, 
2002.

SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
conduct a study on the results of the implementation of the provisions 
in subsections (a) and (c) of section 2 and the amendment to the Social 
Security Act in subsection (b) of that section.
    (b) Reports.--
            (1) Progress report.--Not later than 6 months after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services shall submit a report to Congress that contains 
        a detailed description of the progress of the matters studied 
        pursuant to subsection (a).
            (2) Implementation.--Not later than 18 months after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3 
        years, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit 
        a report to Congress that contains a detailed description of 
        the results of the study conducted pursuant to subsection (a), 
        together with the Secretary's recommendations regarding the use 
        of universal product numbers and the use of data obtained from 
        the use of such numbers.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) UPN covered item.--The term ``UPN covered item'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 1897(b)(1) of the Social 
        Security Act (as added by section 2(b)).
            (2) Universal product number.--The term ``universal product 
        number'' has the meaning given such term in section 1897(b)(2) 
        of the Social Security Act (as added by section 2(b)).

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    The are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
for the purpose of carrying out the provisions in subsections (a) and 
(c) of section 2, section 3, and section 1897 of the Social Security 
Act (as added by section 2(b)).
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