[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5542 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5542

   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a 
 temporary moratorium on enforcement of the cap amount on payments for 
    hospice care under the Medicare Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 6, 2008

Mr. Sullivan (for himself, Mr. Boren, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Cole of Oklahoma, 
 Ms. Fallin, Mr. Pickering, Mr. Marchant, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, 
  Mr. Bonner, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Udall of New Mexico) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
    Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, 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 provide for a 
 temporary moratorium on enforcement of the cap amount on payments for 
    hospice care under the Medicare Program, 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 ``Preserving Access to Hospice (PATH) 
Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM OF ENFORCEMENT OF HOSPICE CAP AMOUNT.

    Section 1814(i)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395f(i)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``The amount'' and 
        inserting ``Subject to subparagraph (E), the amount''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(E) During the period beginning on November 1, 
                2005 and ending on October 31, 2008, the payment 
                limitation under subparagraph (A) shall not apply with 
                respect to hospice care provided by (or under 
                arrangements made by) a hospice program during such 
                period. In the case where a hospice program has made 
                any payments to the program under this part as of the 
                date of enactment of this subparagraph that were not 
                required to be made as a result of the preceding 
                sentence, the Secretary shall not be required to 
                reimburse the hospice program for the amount of such 
                payments.''.

SEC. 3. MEDPAC STUDY AND REPORT ON HOSPICE CARE.

    (a) Study.--The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission shall conduct 
a study on--
            (1) the resource effectiveness and quality of hospice care 
        as a substitute benefit for other acute care alternatives under 
        the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security 
        Act;
            (2) the optimal median and average length of stay in 
        hospice care under the Medicare program;
            (3) the reasons for persistently low median and average 
        length of stay in hospice care under the Medicare program, and 
        regional variations in timely access to hospice care under such 
        program; and
            (4) the desirability of requiring a national coverage 
        determination (as defined in section 1869(f)(1)(B) of the 
        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ff(f)(1)(B)) in determining 
        eligibility for hospice care under the Medicare program.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report on the study 
conducted under subsection (a), together with recommendations for such 
legislation or administrative action as the Commission determines 
appropriate.
    (c) Hospice Care Defined.--In this section, the term ``hospice 
care'' has the meaning given such term in section 1861(dd) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(dd)).
                                 <all>