[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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