II Calendar No. 776 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3118 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 11, 2008 Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Sununu, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Burr, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Coleman, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. Stevens) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time June 12, 2008 Read the second time and placed on the calendar A BILL To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to preserve beneficiary access to care by preventing a reduction in the Medicare physician fee schedule, to improve the quality of care by advancing value based purchasing, electronic health records, and electronic prescribing, and to maintain and improve access to care in rural areas, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—Medicare Subtitle A—Rural beneficiary access extensions and improvements Sec. 100. Short title. Sec. 101. Temporary improvements to the Medicare inpatient hospital payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals. Sec. 102. Use of non-wage adjusted PPS rate under the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program. Sec. 103. Ambulance services improvements. Sec. 104. Extension of authorization for FLEX grants. Sec. 105. Rebasing for sole community hospitals. Sec. 106. Extension and expansion of the Medicare hold harmless provision under the prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department (HOPD) services for certain hospitals. Sec. 107. Clarification of payment for clinical laboratory tests furnished by critical access hospitals. Sec. 108. Extension of floor on Medicare work geographic adjustment under the Medicare physician fee schedule. Sec. 109. Extension of treatment of certain physician pathology services under Medicare. Sec. 110. Adding hospital-based renal dialysis centers (including satellites) as originating sites for payment of telehealth services. Sec. 111. Adding skilled nursing facilities as originating sites for payment of telehealth services. Sec. 112. Applying rural home health add-on policy for 2009. Subtitle B—Other provisions relating to part A Sec. 121. Extension of the reclassification of certain hospitals under the Medicare program. Sec. 122. Institute of Medicine study and report on post-acute care. Sec. 123. Revocation of unique deeming authority of the Joint Commission. Sec. 124. MedPAC study and report on payments for hospice care. Sec. 125. Introducing the principals of value-based health care into the Medicare program. Subtitle C—Other provisions relating to part B Sec. 131. Physician payment, efficiency, and quality improvements. Sec. 132. Incentives for electronic prescribing. Sec. 133. Increasing the number of sites for the electronic health records demonstration. Sec. 134. Primary care improvements. Sec. 135. Medicare anesthesia teaching program improvements . Sec. 136. Medicare coordinated care practice research network demonstration. Sec. 137. Imaging provisions. Sec. 138. Accommodation of physicians ordered to active duty in the Armed Services. Sec. 139. Extension of exceptions process for Medicare therapy caps. Sec. 140. Speech-language pathology services. Sec. 141. Coverage of items and services under a cardiac rehabilitation program and a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Sec. 142. Repeal of transfer of ownership of oxygen equipment. Sec. 143. Extension of payment rule for brachytherapy and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. Sec. 144. Clinical laboratory tests. Sec. 145. Sense of the Senate on delayed implementation of competitive bidding for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). Subtitle D—End stage renal disease program reforms Sec. 151. Kidney disease education and awareness provisions. Sec. 152. Renal dialysis provisions. Subtitle E—Provisions relating to part C Sec. 161. Phase-out of indirect medical education (IME). Sec. 162. Revisions to quality improvement programs. Sec. 163. Revisions relating to specialized Medicare Advantage plans for special needs individuals. Sec. 164. Adjustment to the Medicare Advantage stabilization fund. Sec. 165. Access to Medicare reasonable cost contract plans. Sec. 166. MedPAC study and report on Medicare Advantage payments. Sec. 167. Marketing of Medicare Advantage plans and prescription drug plans. Subtitle F—Other provisions Sec. 171. Contract with a consensus-based entity regarding performance measurement. Sec. 172. Use of part D data. Sec. 173. Inclusion of Medicare providers and suppliers in Federal Payment Levy and Administrative Offset Program. TITLE II—Medicaid Sec. 201. Extension of transitional medical assistance (TMA) and abstinence education program through fiscal year 2009. Sec. 202. Extension of qualifying individual (QI) program through fiscal year 2009. Sec. 203. Medicaid DSH extension through December 31, 2009. Sec. 204. Asset verification through access to information held by financial institutions. Sec. 205. Application of Medicare payment adjustment for certain hospital-acquired conditions to payments for inpatient hospital services under Medicaid. Sec. 206. Reduction in payments for Medicaid administrative costs to prevent duplication of such payments under TANF. Sec. 207. Clarification treatment of regional medical center. Sec. 208. Grants to improve outreach and enrollment under Medicaid. TITLE III—Miscellaneous Sec. 301. Extension of TANF supplemental grants through fiscal year 2009. Sec. 302. Special Diabetes Programs for Type I Diabetes and Indians. Sec. 303. Additional Funding for State Health Insurance Assistance Programs, Area Agencies on Aging, and Aging and Disability Resource Centers. Sec. 304. Extension of Federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens.

June 12, 2008 Read the second time and placed on the calendar