[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4257 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4257

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify payment for 
clinical laboratory tests furnished by critical access hospitals under 
                         the Medicare Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2004

  Mr. Otter (for himself, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Peterson of 
 Minnesota, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Paul, Mr. Ross, 
Mr. McHugh, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota, Mr. Bereuter, and 
 Mr. Nethercutt) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 
 on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify payment for 
clinical laboratory tests furnished by critical access hospitals 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 ``Critical Access to Clinical Lab 
Services Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PAYMENT FOR CLINICAL LABORATORY TESTS 
              FURNISHED BY CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1834(g)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395m(g)(4)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``no beneficiary cost-
        sharing for'' and inserting ``treatment of''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of 
        the preceding sentence and section 1861(mm)(3), clinical 
        diagnostic laboratory services furnished by a critical access 
        hospital shall be treated as being furnished as part of 
        outpatient critical access services without regard to whether--
                    ``(A) the individual with respect to whom such 
                services are furnished is physically present in the 
                critical access hospital at the time the specimen is 
                collected;
                    ``(B) such individual is registered as an 
                outpatient on the records of, and receives such 
                services directly from, the critical access hospital; 
                or
                    ``(C) payment is (or, but for this subsection, 
                would be) available for such services under the fee 
                schedule established under section 1833(h).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2003.
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