[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3656 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3656

   To preserve access to healthcare under the Medicare and Medicaid 
                               programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 30 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

  Mr. Schumer (for himself and Mrs. Clinton) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To preserve access to healthcare under the Medicare and Medicaid 
                               programs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Preserving Access 
to Healthcare (PATH) Act of 2008''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Temporary non-application of Medicare phased-out indirect 
                            medical education adjustment factor.
Sec. 3. Delay in implementation of Medicaid outpatient hospital 
                            services regulation.
Sec. 4. Delay in phase out of the Medicare hospice budget neutrality 
                            adjustment factor.
Sec. 5. Treatment of certain Medicaid family demonstration project.
Sec. 6. Delay in implementation of certain provisions relating to 
                            Medicare rural health clinics and federally 
                            qualified health centers.
Sec. 7. Mandatory State use of National Correct Coding Initiative.
Sec. 8. Medicaid Improvement Fund technical correction.
Sec. 9. Funding for the Medicare Improvement Fund.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY NON-APPLICATION OF MEDICARE PHASED-OUT INDIRECT 
              MEDICAL EDUCATION ADJUSTMENT FACTOR.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during 
the period beginning on October 1, 2008, and ending on March 31, 2009, 
section 412.322 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be 
applied without regard to paragraph (c) of such section.
    (b) No Effect on Subsequent Periods.--Nothing in subsection (a) 
shall be construed as having any effect on the application of section 
412.322 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, after March 31, 2009.

SEC. 3. DELAY IN IMPLEMENTATION OF MEDICAID OUTPATIENT HOSPITAL 
              SERVICES REGULATION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the 6-month 
period that begins on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services shall not finalize or otherwise implement 
provisions contained in the proposed rule published on September 28, 
2007, on pages 55158 through 55166 of volume 72, Federal Register 
(relating to parts 440 and 447 of title 42, Code of Federal 
Regulations).

SEC. 4. DELAY IN PHASE OUT OF THE MEDICARE HOSPICE BUDGET NEUTRALITY 
              ADJUSTMENT FACTOR.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including the 
provisions contained in the final rule published on August 8, 2008, on 
pages 46464 through 46522 of volume 73, Federal Register (relating to 
part 418 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations), the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall not phase out or eliminate the budget 
neutrality adjustment factor in the Medicare hospice wage index prior 
to April 1, 2009.

SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN MEDICAID FAMILY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

    The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 
Administer of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and upon the 
request of the State of California, shall extend approval, and full 
Federal financial participation, of the State's Medicaid family 
planning demonstration project, which was approved under a waiver 
pursuant to section 1115 of the Social Security Act, until June 30, 
2009, under the eligibility requirements and processes that were in 
place for such project as of the date before the first extension period 
for such project.

SEC. 6. DELAY IN IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATING TO 
              MEDICARE RURAL HEALTH CLINICS AND FEDERALLY QUALIFIED 
              HEALTH CENTERS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall not, prior to April 1, 2009, take any action 
(through promulgation of regulation, issuance of regulatory guidance, 
or other administrative action) to--
            (1) finalize or otherwise implement provisions contained in 
        the proposed rule published on June 27, 2008, on pages 36696 
        through 36719 of volume 73, Federal Register, that relate to--
                    (A) decertifying rural health clinics under the 
                Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social 
                Security Act that are determined to no longer be in 
                nonurbanized areas; and
                    (B) changes in the payment methodology for rural 
                health clinics and federally qualified health centers 
                under the Medicare program as described in sections 
                405.2410 and 405.2466(b)(1)(iii) of title 42, Code of 
                Federal Regulations; or
            (2) promulgate or implement any rule or provisions similar 
        to the provisions described in paragraph (1).

SEC. 7. MANDATORY STATE USE OF NATIONAL CORRECT CODING INITIATIVE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1903(r) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396b(r)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(B)--
                    (A) in clause (ii), by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (iii), by adding ``and'' after the 
                semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(iv) effective for claims filed on or 
                        after October 1, 2009, incorporate compatible 
                        methodologies of the National Correct Coding 
                        Initiative administered by the Secretary (or 
                        any successor initiative to promote correct 
                        coding and to control improper coding leading 
                        to inappropriate payment) and such other 
                        methodologies of that Initiative (or such other 
                        national correct coding methodologies) as the 
                        Secretary identifies in accordance with 
                        paragraph (3);''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(3) Not later than September 1, 2009, the Secretary shall do the 
following:
            ``(A) Identify those methodologies of the National Correct 
        Coding Initiative administered by the Secretary (or any 
        successor initiative to promote correct coding and to control 
        improper coding leading to inappropriate payment) which are 
        compatible to claims filed under this title.
            ``(B) Identify those methodologies of such Initiative (or 
        such other national correct coding methodologies) that should 
        be incorporated into claims filed under this title with respect 
        to items or services for which States provide medical 
        assistance under this title and no national correct coding 
        methodologies have been established under such Initiative with 
        respect to title XVIII.
            ``(C) Notify States of--
                    ``(i) the methodologies identified under 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B) (and of any other national 
                correct coding methodologies identified under 
                subparagraph (B)); and
                    ``(ii) how States are to incorporate such 
                methodologies into claims filed under this title.
            ``(D) Submit a report to Congress that includes the notice 
        to States under subparagraph (C) and an analysis supporting the 
        identification of the methodologies made under subparagraphs 
        (A) and (B).''.
    (b) Extension for State Law Amendment.--In the case of a State plan 
under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) 
which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines requires 
State legislation in order for the plan to meet the additional 
requirements imposed by the amendment made by subsection (a)(1)(C), the 
State plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the 
requirements of such title solely on the basis of its failure to meet 
these additional requirements before the first day of the first 
calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first regular session 
of the State legislature that begins after the date of enactment of 
this Act. For purposes of the previous sentence, in the case of a State 
that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session is 
considered to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.

SEC. 8. MEDICAID IMPROVEMENT FUND TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

    (a) In General.--Section 1941(b)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act, 
as added by section 7002(b) of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 
2008, is amended by inserting ``each of'' after ``for''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect as if included in the enactment of the Supplemental 
Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-252).

SEC. 9. FUNDING FOR THE MEDICARE IMPROVEMENT FUND.

    Section 1898(b)(1) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 
7002(a) of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-
252) and as amended by section 188(a)(2) of the Medicare Improvements 
for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-275) and by 
section 6 of the QI Program Supplemental Funding Act of 2008, is 
amended by striking ``$2,290,000,000'' and inserting 
``$2,590,000,000''.
                                 <all>