110 HR 6158 IH: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to U.S. House of Representatives 2008-05-22 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
I 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6158 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 22, 2008 Mr. Meek of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a geographic adjustment in the Medicare cap on payment for hospice care and to require hospice programs to report comprehensive data on hospice care.
1.
Medicare hospice payments and data reporting
(a)
Geographic adjustment in the Medicare hospice payment cap
Paragraph (2)(B) of section 1814(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395f(i)) is amended by adding at the end the following: For accounting years beginning on or after October 1, 2008, the Secretary shall adjust the cap amount using the same geographic index, in the same manner, as is used to determine payment rates for hospice care, except that in applying the work geographic index, the Secretary shall increase the index to 1.00 for any locality for which such index is less than 1.00.. (b)
Submission of comprehensive data on hospice care
(1)
In general
Paragraph (3) of such section is amended by adding at the end the following: The Secretary shall expand such data to include comprehensive data that reflect the number, type, and length of services provided to beneficiaries by all members of the hospice interdisciplinary group and by all hospice employees and volunteers, taking into account the unique features of the hospice benefit, including the focus on palliative care and the interdisciplinary team approach to providing care to beneficiaries and their families.. (2)
Effective date
The Secretary of Health and Human Services may not require the submission by hospice programs of comprehensive data under the amendment made by paragraph (1) before January 1, 2009. (3)
Relation to Change Request 5567
The reporting of comprehensive data under such amendment shall supercede any requirement for the reporting of an expanded level of claims data under Change Request 5567.