[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 586 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 586

Celebrating 40 years of achievements of medical coders, and encouraging 
  the medical coding community to continue providing accurate medical 
claims and statistical reporting to the people of the United States and 
                             to the world.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 26, 2006

Mr. Hatch submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Celebrating 40 years of achievements of medical coders, and encouraging 
  the medical coding community to continue providing accurate medical 
claims and statistical reporting to the people of the United States and 
                             to the world.

Whereas, in 1966, the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) was developed by the 
        American Medical Association (AMA) to assist with the accurate reporting 
        of physician procedures and services, and has since grown to include 
        8,568 codes and descriptions;
Whereas, in 1977, when the 9th revision to the World Health Organization's 
        International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) was published, the 
        United States National Center for Health Statistics modified the 
        statistical study with clinical information and provided a way to 
        classify diagnostic and procedural data to create a clinical picture of 
        each patient to improve the quality of health care;
Whereas, in 1977, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), now the 
        Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was established for the 
        coordination of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and its 
        responsibilities has since included coordinating the annual update to 
        ICD-9-CM Volume 3 procedures codes;
Whereas Congress passed the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 (Public 
        Law 100-360), and mandated the reporting of ICD-9-CM codes on each part 
        B claim submitted by physicians and that mandate has since extended to 
        parts A, C, and D of the Medicare program;
Whereas the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 
        (Public Law 104-191) requires every health care provider who does 
        business electronically to use the same code sets, including Current 
        Procedural Terminology, ICD-9-CM, and other code sets involving medical 
        supplies, dental services, and drugs;
Whereas, since 1998 and the publication of the first medical practice compliance 
        plans, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health 
        and Human Services (HHS) has recognized medical coding as an essential 
        element in the fight against health care fraud and abuse;
Whereas, in 2003, the Department of Health and Human Services delegated 
        authority under the Health Information Portability and Accountability 
        Act of 1996 to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to maintain 
        and distribute the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) 
        that is used primarily to identify products, supplies, and services not 
        included in the Current Procedural Terminology codes, such as ambulance 
        services and durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and 
        supplies (DMEPOS) when used outside a physician's office;
Whereas the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 
        2003 (Public Law 108-173) included a provision to update ICD-9-CM codes 
        affecting new technology and procedures twice each year;
Whereas, in 2006, the Department of Labor forecasted above average job growth 
        for medical coders through 2012 because of rapid growth in the number of 
        medical tests, treatments, and procedures that will be increasingly 
        scrutinized by third-party payers, regulators, courts, and consumers; 
        and
Whereas medical coders have a tradition of working in collaboration with the 
        Federal Government to improve the overall health of all people of the 
        United States through the accuracy of claims reporting: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the historical, clinical, and public health 
        achievements of medical coders and celebrates the milestones 
        achieved in the 40-year history of medical coding;
            (2) recognizes the great impact that medical coders have on 
        improving the quality of health care of people in the United 
        States and around the world; and
            (3) congratulates medical coders for their dedication and 
        trusts that the profession will continue to offer its guidance 
        relative to medical coding and its effect on accurate patient 
        information to improve the public health of future generations.
                                 <all>