[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2879 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2879

To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to improve the 
availability of accurate nursing facility staffing information, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2002

Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Breaux, and Mr. Rockefeller) 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 improve the 
availability of accurate nursing facility staffing information, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Nursing Home Staffing Accountability 
Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE AVAILABILITY OF ACCURATE DATA ON NURSING FACILITY 
              STAFFING.

    (a) Medicare.--Section 1819(b)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395i-3(b)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by adding at the end the following 
        new sentence: ``The information posted under this subparagraph 
        shall include information regarding nurse staffing with respect 
        to beds made available by reason of an agreement under section 
        1883.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
                    ``(C) Submission and posting of data.--Beginning on 
                July 1, 2003, a skilled nursing facility shall submit 
                to the Secretary in a uniform manner (as prescribed by 
                the Secretary) the nursing staff data described in 
                subparagraph (A) through electronic data submission not 
                less frequently than quarterly and the Secretary shall 
                make such data publicly available, including by posting 
                such data on an Internet website.
                    ``(D) Audit of data.--As part of each standard 
                survey conducted under subsection (g)(2)(A), there 
                shall be an audit of the nursing staff data reported 
                under subparagraph (C) to ensure that such data are 
                accurate.''.
    (b) Medicaid.--Section 1919(b)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395r(b)(8)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by adding at the end the following 
        new sentence: ``The information posted under this subparagraph 
        shall include information regarding nurse staffing with respect 
        to beds made available by reason of an agreement under section 
        1883.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
                    ``(C) Submission and posting of data.--Beginning on 
                July 1, 2003, a nursing facility shall submit to the 
                Secretary in a uniform manner (as prescribed by the 
                Secretary) the nursing staff data described in 
                subparagraph (A) through electronic data submission not 
                less frequently than quarterly and the Secretary shall 
                make such data publicly available, including by posting 
                such data on an Internet website.
                    ``(D) Audit of data.--As part of each standard 
                survey conducted under subsection (g)(2)(A), there 
                shall be an audit of the nursing staff data reported 
                under subparagraph (C) to ensure that such data are 
                accurate.''.
    (c) Report.--Not later than October 1, 2003, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress a report on--
            (1) the manner in which the Secretary intends to implement 
        reporting of additional nurse staffing variables such as unit 
        worked, day of week (weekday and weekend), and type of care 
        (direct or administrative) provided; and
            (2) the most effective mechanisms for auditing nurse 
        staffing data under sections 1819(b)(8)(D) and 1919(b)(8)(D) of 
        the Social Security Act (as added by subsections (a)(2) and 
        (b)(2), respectively).
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to calendar quarters beginning on and after January 
1, 2003.

SEC. 3. CREATING A STAFFING QUALITY MEASURE FOR CONSUMERS TO COMPARE 
              NURSING FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--Beginning on October 1, 2003, and for as long as 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services publishes quality measures 
to help the public compare the quality of care that nursing facilities 
provide, these quality measures shall include a quality measure for 
nursing staff that--
            (1) includes the average daily total nursing hours worked 
        for the quarterly reporting period for which data is submitted 
        under sections 1819(b)(8)(C) and 1919(b)(8)(C) of the Social 
        Security Act (as added by subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2), 
        respectively, of section 2);
            (2) is sensitive to case mix and quality outcomes; and
            (3) indicates the percentile in which each nursing facility 
        falls compared with other nursing facilities in the State.
The Secretary shall not be required to comply with the requirements of 
paragraph (2) to the extent that the development of a methodology to 
comply with such requirement would delay the implementation of this 
section.
    (b) Form and Manner.--The nursing facility staffing measure 
described in subsection (a) shall be displayed in the same form and 
manner as information that the Secretary displays to help the public 
compare the quality of care that nursing facilities provide.
    (c) Periodic Revisions.--The Secretary may revise the nursing 
facility staffing measure described in subsection (a) from time to time 
to improve the accuracy of such measure.
                                 <all>