[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2981 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2981

To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide bad 
    debt relief for facilities providing care to certain low-income 
 medicare beneficiaries and to amend title XIX of such Act to increase 
 efforts to provide medicare beneficiaries with medicare cost-sharing 
                      under the medicaid program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2000

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide bad 
    debt relief for facilities providing care to certain low-income 
 medicare beneficiaries and to amend title XIX of such Act to increase 
 efforts to provide medicare beneficiaries with medicare cost-sharing 
                      under the medicaid 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 Bad Debt Relief and 
Medicare Cost-Sharing Eligibility Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. BAD DEBT RELIEF FOR FACILITIES PROVIDING CARE TO CERTAIN LOW-
              INCOME MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES.

    (a) Medicare Cost-Sharing Uncollectible and Not Covered by Medicaid 
State Plans.--Section 1902(n)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396a(n)(3)(B)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(B)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new clause:
            ``(ii) the amount of medicare cost-sharing that is 
        uncollectible from the beneficiary because of clause (i) and 
        that is not paid by any other individual or entity shall be 
        deemed to be bad debt for purposes of title XVIII; and''.
    (b) Recognition of 100 Percent of Bad Debt.--
            (1) Nonapplication of reduction.--Section 1861(v)(1)(T) of 
        the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(v)(1)(T)) is amended 
        by inserting ``(other than any amount deemed to be bad debt 
        under section 1902(n)(3)(B)(ii))'' after ``amounts under this 
        title''.
            (2) Recognition with respect to certified nurse 
        anesthetists, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse 
        specialists.--Section 1833 of the Social Security Act (42 
        U.S.C. 1395l) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (l)(5)(B), by striking ``No 
                hospital'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
                section 1902(n)(3)(B)(ii), no hospital''; and
                    (B) in subsection (r)(2), by striking ``No 
                hospital'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
                section 1902(n)(3)(B)(ii), no hospital''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to items and services furnished on or after the date of enactment 
of this Act.

SEC. 3. INCREASED EFFORT TO PROVIDE MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES WITH 
              MEDICARE COST-SHARING UNDER THE MEDICAID PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 1902(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396a(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (64), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (65), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (65) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(66) provide for the determination of eligibility for 
        medicare cost-sharing (as defined in section 1905(p)(3)) for 
        individuals described in paragraph (10)(E) and, if eligible for 
        such medicare cost-sharing, for the enrollment of such 
        individuals at any hospital, clinic, or similar entity at which 
        State or local agency personnel are stationed for the purpose 
        of determining the eligibility of individuals for medical 
        assistance under the State plan or providing outreach services 
        to eligible or potentially eligible individuals.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
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