II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 307 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 22, 2009 Mr. Wyden (for himself 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 flexibility in the manner in which beds are counted for purposes of determining whether a hospital may be designated as a critical access hospital under the Medicare program and to exempt from the critical access hospital inpatient bed limitation the number of beds provided for certain veterans.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Critical Access Hospital Flexibility Act of 2009.

2.

Flexibility in the manner in which beds are counted for purposes of determining whether a hospital may be designated as a critical access hospital under the Medicare program

(a)

In general

Section 1820(c)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–4(c)(2)(B)) is amended— (1)in clause (iii), by inserting (or 20, as determined on an annual, average basis) after 25; and (2)by adding at the end the following flush sentence: In determining the number of beds for purposes of clause (iii), only beds that are occupied shall be counted.. (b)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section take effect on January 1, 2010.

3.

Critical access hospital inpatient bed limitation exemption for beds provided to certain veterans

(a)

In general

Section 1820(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–4(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3)

Exemption from bed limitation

For purposes of this section, no acute care inpatient bed shall be counted against any numerical limitation specified under this section for such a bed (or for inpatient bed days with respect to such a bed) if the bed is provided for an individual who is a veteran and the Department of Veterans Affairs referred the individual for care in the hospital or is coordinating such care with other care being provided by such Department. . (b)

Effective date

The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to cost reporting periods beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.