[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2704 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2704

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare 
  coverage of services of qualified respiratory therapists performed 
             under the general supervision of a physician.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2008

Mrs. Lincoln (for herself and Mr. Crapo) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare 
  coverage of services of qualified respiratory therapists performed 
             under the general supervision of a physician.

    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 Respiratory Therapy 
Initiative Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. MEDICARE COVERAGE OF SERVICES OF QUALIFIED RESPIRATORY 
              THERAPISTS PERFORMED UNDER THE GENERAL SUPERVISION OF A 
              PHYSICIAN.

    (a) In General.--Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x), as amended by section 114 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP 
Extension Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-173), is amended--
            (1) in subsection (s)(2)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (Z);
                    (B) by adding ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (AA); and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
            ``(BB) respiratory therapy services which would be 
        physicians' services if furnished by a physician (as defined in 
        subsection (r)(1)) for the diagnosis and treatment of 
        respiratory illnesses and which are performed by a respiratory 
        therapist (as defined in subsection (ddd)) under the general 
        supervision of a physician and which the respiratory therapist 
        is legally authorized to perform by the State in which the 
        services are performed, but only if no facility or other 
        provider charges or is paid any amounts with respect to the 
        furnishing of such services.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

                        ``Respiratory Therapist

    ``(ddd) For purposes of subsection (s)(2)(BB) and section 
1833(a)(1)(W) only, the term `respiratory therapist' means an 
individual who--
            ``(1) is credentialed by a national credentialing board 
        recognized by the Secretary;
            ``(2)(A) is licensed to practice respiratory therapy in the 
        State in which the respiratory therapy services are performed, 
        or (B) in the case of an individual in a State which does not 
        provide for such licensure, is legally authorized to perform 
        respiratory therapy services (in the State in which the 
        individual performed such services) under State law (or the 
        State regulatory mechanism provided by State law);
            ``(3) is a registered respiratory therapist; and
            ``(4) holds a bachelor's degree.''.
    (b) Payment.--Section 1833(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395l(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' before ``(V)''; and
            (2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end the 
        following: ``(W) with respect to services described in section 
        1861(s)(2)(BB) (relating to services furnished by a respiratory 
        therapist) that are furnished by a respiratory therapist (as 
        defined in section 1861(ddd)), the amount paid shall be equal 
        to 80 percent of the lesser of the actual charge for the 
        services or 85 percent of the fee schedule amount provided 
        under section 1848 for the same services if furnished by a 
        physician''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to services furnished on or after January 1, 2009.
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