[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3305 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3305

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require the use of 
 electronic visit verification systems for home health services under 
                         the Medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 8, 2016

 Mr. Grassley 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 require the use of 
 electronic visit verification systems for home health services under 
                         the Medicare program.

    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 ``Verifying Electronically the Receipt 
of In-Home Care For Individuals Act'' or the ``VERIFI Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT MEDICARE HOME HEALTH AGENCIES HAVE IN PLACE AN 
              ELECTRONIC VISIT VERIFICATION SYSTEM.

    (a) Condition of Participation.--Section 1891(a) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395bbb(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(7)(A) In the case of home health services furnished on 
        or after January 1, 2019, the agency has in place an electronic 
        visit verification system that meets standards established by 
        the Secretary.
            ``(B) In this paragraph, the term `electronic visit 
        verification system' means a system under which visits 
        conducted as part of home health services furnished by a home 
        health agency are electronically verified by the agency with 
        respect to--
                    ``(i) the type of service performed;
                    ``(ii) the individual receiving the service;
                    ``(iii) the date of the service;
                    ``(iv) the location of the service is furnished;
                    ``(v) the individual furnishing the service; and
                    ``(vi) the time the service begins and ends.
            ``(C) By not later than July 1, 2018, the Secretary shall 
        establish standards for electronic visit verification systems. 
        In establishing such standards, the Secretary shall consult 
        with home health agencies to ensure that such standards--
                    ``(i) are minimally burdensome;
                    ``(ii) take into account existing best practices 
                and electronic visit verification systems in use; and
                    ``(iii) require that the systems are conducted in 
                accordance with the requirements of HIPAA privacy and 
                security law (as defined in section 3009 of the Public 
                Health Service Act).''.
    (b) Rules of Construction.--
            (1) No employer-employee relationship established.--Nothing 
        in the amendment made by this section may be construed as 
        establishing an employer-employee relationship between the home 
        health agency and the individuals who, under a contract with 
        such an agency, furnish such services for purposes of part 552 
        of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 
        regulations).
            (2) No particular or uniform electronic visit verification 
        system required.--Nothing in the amendment made by this section 
        shall be construed to require the use of a particular or 
        uniform electronic visit verification system (as defined in 
        paragraph (7)(B) of section 1891(a) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1395bbb(a)), as added by subsection (a)) by all 
        agencies that furnish home health services under title XVIII of 
        such Act.
            (3) No limits on provision of care.--Nothing in the 
        amendment made by this section may be construed to limit, with 
        respect to home health services furnished under title XVIII of 
        the Social Security Act, provider selection, constrain 
        beneficiaries' selection of a caregiver, or impede the manner 
        in which care is furnished.
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