[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1822 Introduced in Senate (IS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1822

   To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to make 
 improvements to the implementation of the medicare prescription drug 
                                benefit.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 5, 2005

  Mrs. Murray (for herself and Ms. Cantwell) 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 make 
 improvements to the implementation of the medicare prescription drug 
                                benefit.

    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 Help for Every beneficiary 
And Low income Senior Act of 2005'' or the ``Medicare HEALS Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. ALLOWING MEDICAID WRAP.

    (a) Repeal.--Subsection (d) of section 1935 of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u-5) is repealed.
    (b) Reduction in Clawback Payments by the Amount of Wrap 
Payments.--Section 1935(c)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1396u-5(c)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding clause 
        (i), by striking ``Each'' and inserting ``Subject to 
        subparagraph (E), each''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(E) Reduction in payment.--The amount of the 
                payment that a State or the District of Columbia would 
                otherwise be required to pay to the Secretary under 
                subparagraph (A) for a month shall be reduced by an 
                amount equal to the amount of the State share for 
                medical assistance for covered outpatient drugs 
                furnished to full-benefit dual eligible individuals for 
                that month that supplements the prescription drug 
                coverage under part D of title XVIII, including medical 
                assistance for cost-sharing under such part D. If a 
                State or the District of Columbia provides medical 
                assistance for such cost-sharing, such assistance shall 
                be considered medicare cost-sharing under section 
                1905(p)(3) for purposes of payments under section 
                1903.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The repeal made by subsection (a) and the 
amendments made by subsection (b) shall take effect as if included in 
the enactment of section 103 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, 
Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173; 117 
Stat. 2154).

SEC. 3. WAIVER OF PART D LATE ENROLLMENT PENALTY FOR TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) In General.--Section 1860D-13(b) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1895w-113(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(8) Waiver of penalty for months prior to 2008.--A part D 
        eligible individual who enrolls for the first time in a 
        prescription drug plan or an MA-PD plan under this part prior 
        to January 1, 2008, shall not be subject an increase in the 
        monthly beneficiary premium established under subsection (a) 
        with respect to months occurring prior to such date.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in the enactment of section 101(a) of the 
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 
(Public Law 108-173; 117 Stat. 2071).
                                 <all>