[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3493 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3493

  To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve quality 
                      measurement and development.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 25, 2018

 Mr. Warner (for himself, Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Nelson) 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 improve quality 
                      measurement and development.

    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 ``Addiction Treatment Quality 
Improvement Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING QUALITY MEASUREMENT AND DEVELOPMENT RELATED TO THE 
              TREATMENT OF OPIOID AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1890A of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395aaa-1) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(g) Strategic Framework for Quality Measure Development and 
Implementation Related to the Treatment of Opioid and Substance Use 
Disorders.--
            ``(1) Assessment.--Not later than 3 months after the date 
        of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall 
        conduct an assessment of the current state of quality measures 
        and measure concepts in the area of opioid and substance use 
        disorders. Such assessment shall also include an analysis to 
        identify top-priority considerations for measurement in the 
        areas of opioid and substance use disorders and gaps in areas 
        of such measures.
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress the results of the assessment conducted under 
        paragraph (1), together with recommendations the Secretary 
        determines appropriate.
            ``(3) Measure development plan.--
                    ``(A) Development of a plan.--The Secretary shall 
                develop a measure development plan to address the gaps, 
                measure concepts, and identified measure domains 
                stemming from the recommendations in the report under 
                paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Plan to be made publicly available.--Not 
                later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
                this subsection, the Secretary shall make the plan 
                developed under subparagraph (A) publicly available.
            ``(4) Contract.--The Secretary may enter into a contract, 
        or as necessary amend the contract, with the entity with a 
        contract under section 1890(a) to conduct the assessment under 
        paragraph (1) and submit the report under paragraph (2), which 
        may be included in an annual report submitted under section 
        1890(b)(5) before the deadline under such paragraph (2) and 
        which shall also be submitted to the Secretary if not included 
        in such annual report.''.
    (b) Funding.--Section 1890(d)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395aaa(d)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``and (f)'' and 
        inserting ``, (f), and (g)(3)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
        ``Amounts transferred under this paragraph for purposes of 
        carrying out section 1890A(g) (other than paragraph (3)) shall 
        only be for the period of fiscal years 2018 through 2020 and 
        may not exceed a total of $1,500,000.''.

SEC. 3. FACILITATION OF INCREASED COORDINATION AND ALIGNMENT BETWEEN 
              THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR WITH RESPECT TO QUALITY AND 
              EFFICIENCY MEASURES.

    (a) In General.--Section 1890(b) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395aaa(b)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (3) the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(4) Facilitation of increased coordination and alignment 
        between the public and private sector with respect to quality 
        and efficiency measures.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The entity shall facilitate 
                increased coordination and alignment between the public 
                and private sector with respect to quality and 
                efficiency measures.
                    ``(B) Annual reports.--The entity shall prepare and 
                make available to the public its findings under this 
                paragraph in its annual report. Such public 
                availability shall include posting each report on the 
                Internet website of the entity''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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