[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 876 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 876

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require hospitals to 
    provide certain notifications to individuals classified by such 
 hospitals under observation status rather than admitted as inpatients 
                           of such hospitals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 2015

   Mr. Doggett (for himself and Mr. Young of Indiana) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
 and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require hospitals to 
    provide certain notifications to individuals classified by such 
 hospitals under observation status rather than admitted as inpatients 
                           of such hospitals.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Notice of Observation Treatment and 
Implication for Care Eligibility Act'' or the ``NOTICE Act''.

SEC. 2. MEDICARE REQUIREMENT FOR HOSPITAL NOTIFICATIONS OF OBSERVATION 
              STATUS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1866(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395cc(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (V), by striking at the end ``and'';
            (2) in the first subparagraph (W), by striking at the end 
        the period and inserting a comma;
            (3) in the second subparagraph (W)--
                    (A) by redesignating such subparagraph as 
                subparagraph (X); and
                    (B) by striking at the end the period and inserting 
                ``, and''; and
            (4) by inserting after such subparagraph (X) the following 
        new subparagraph:
            ``(Y) in the case of a hospital, to provide to each 
        individual who is entitled to benefits under part A and who the 
        hospital classifies for more than 24 hours as an outpatient 
        under observation status or any other similar status, as the 
        Secretary determines appropriate (or to a person acting on the 
        individual's behalf), not later than 36 hours after the time of 
        such classification of such individual under such status (or, 
        if sooner, upon discharge), an adequate oral and written 
        notification (as defined by the Secretary pursuant to 
        rulemaking and containing such language as the Secretary 
        prescribes consistent with this paragraph) which--
                    ``(i) explains the status of the individual as an 
                outpatient under such observation status or any other 
                such similar status and not as an inpatient of the 
                hospital;
                    ``(ii) explains the reason for the classification 
                of such individual under such status;
                    ``(iii) explains the implications of such status as 
                an outpatient on--
                            ``(I) eligibility for coverage of items and 
                        services under this title, including such items 
                        and services furnished by the hospital with 
                        respect to such individual while under such 
                        status and for items and services under this 
                        title for a subsequent discharge to a skilled 
                        nursing facility or other facility; and
                            ``(II) cost-sharing requirements under this 
                        title, including with respect to items and 
                        services furnished by the hospital to such 
                        individual while under such status and with 
                        respect to items and services under this title 
                        for a subsequent discharge to a skilled nursing 
                        facility or other facility;
                    ``(iv) includes the name and title of the staff of 
                the hospital who provided the oral notification and the 
                date and time of such oral notification;
                    ``(v) includes such additional information as the 
                Secretary deems appropriate; and
                    ``(vi) in the case of the written notification--
                            ``(I) is signed--
                                    ``(aa) by such individual or a 
                                person acting on such individual's 
                                behalf to acknowledge receipt of such 
                                notification; or
                                    ``(bb) if such individual or person 
                                refuses to provide the signature, by 
                                the staff of the hospital who presented 
                                the written notification, who shall 
                                include his or her name and title, a 
                                certification that the notification was 
                                presented, and the date and time the 
                                notification was presented;
                            ``(II) is written and formatted using 
                        language that is clear and easily 
                        understandable to Medicare beneficiaries; and
                            ``(III) is made available in different 
                        languages, as specified by the Secretary.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to items and services furnished on or after the date 
that is six months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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