IV 111th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 245 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 2, 2010 Mr. Lance (for himself and Mr. Holt) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Recognizing the life-saving role of ostomy care and prosthetics in the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the United States.

Whereas over 700,000 people in the United States, from young children to senior citizens, have an ostomy, a surgical procedure that creates an artificial opening in the abdomen to the intestines or urinary system to allow for the elimination of bodily wastes; Whereas an ostomy procedure is essential to many patients who suffer on a daily basis from serious, chronic, or life-threatening traumatic injury to the abdomen, illnesses and conditions, such as colorectal or bladder cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, birth defects, or other intestinal or urinary medical conditions; Whereas following ostomy surgery, patients need specially-fitted medical products to manage, temporarily or permanently restore intestinal or urinary system function, or re-establish activities of daily living, and improve quality of life; Whereas ostomy products are prosthetic devices prescribed by health care providers and meet the definition of prosthetics under Medicare; Whereas however, ostomy products are currently reimbursed under Medicare as medical supplies, not prosthetics; Whereas there is a significant inconsistency under the Medicare program between the coverage category of, and reimbursement policy for, ostomy products; Whereas Federal Medicaid statutes do not require coverage of prosthetics, including ostomy products; Whereas Medicare’s inconsistent policy and reimbursement approach to ostomy products and Medicaid’s lack of required coverage for ostomy products could affect access for patients in need; Whereas ostomy products are customized to the clinical needs of individual patients and are not the same as other easily interchangeable medical supplies such as gauze and bandages; Whereas Congress has previously recognized the physical, psychological, and emotional importance of restoring function and improving the quality of life through enactment of the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–277), which requires coverage of surgery to reconstruct the breast after a mastectomy, including any prostheses; Whereas ongoing advances and innovation in ostomy prosthetics technology can dramatically improve the lives of those who undergo ostomy surgery, by helping to normalize their intestinal or urinary system function, improve physical well-being, and often enable the individual to rejoin the workforce; and Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services has recognized the need to improve its use of resources and authorities to encourage and facilitate the development and use of new medical technologies: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)recognizes the life-saving role of ostomy care and prosthetics in the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the United States; (2)recognizes if a surgical procedure results in a patient needing a prosthetic that manages, or temporarily or permanently restores intestinal or urinary system function, specifically the control of the elimination of the body's waste products, then that custom-fit, medically prescribed prosthetic should be available to patients without substitution and be adequately reimbursed; (3)urges that ostomy products be recognized, categorized, covered, and reimbursed in a new payment category of “prosthetic supplies” consistent with Medicare’s current recognition of ostomy products as prosthetics; and (4)urges the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the department’s programs, policies, and payment practices facilitate, and do not discourage, innovation of and access to medical devices that restore or improve intestinal or urinary system function of people in the United States with an ostomy.