II 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2727 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 6, 2008 Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Shelby, and Mr. Domenici) 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 a temporary moratorium on enforcement of the cap amount on payments for hospice care under the Medicare program, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Preserving Access to Hospice (PATH) Act of 2008.

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. .

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)).