[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8834 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8834

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend and improve 
 the Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Program under 
                         the Medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 2, 2020

    Mrs. Dingell (for herself, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Blumenauer, and Mr. 
   Thompson of California) 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 extend and improve 
 the Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Program 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 ``Independence at Home Demonstration 
Improvement Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. EXTENDING AND IMPROVING THE INDEPENDENCE AT HOME MEDICAL 
              PRACTICE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM UNDER THE MEDICARE 
              PROGRAM.

    Section 1866E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc-5) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``7'' and 
                inserting ``10'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in the header, by striking ``No 
                        physician'' and inserting ``Physician''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following new 
                        sentence: ``Nothing in the previous sentence 
                        shall be construed to prohibit an independence 
                        at home medical practice from participating in 
                        any model or demonstration with a shared 
                        savings component under this title (other than 
                        the program under section 1899) or under 
                        section 1115A if such participation is 
                        determined appropriate by the Secretary.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
                        through (C) as clauses (i) through (iii), 
                        respectively, and adjusting the margins 
                        accordingly;
                            (ii) in clause (i), as so redesignated, by 
                        inserting ``are'' before ``located'';
                            (iii) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, 
                        by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                        ``; and'';
                            (iv) in the matter preceding clause (i), as 
                        so redesignated, by striking ``to practices 
                        that are--'' and inserting the following: 
                        ``to--
                    ``(A) practices that--''; and
                            (v) by adding at the end the following new 
                        subparagraph:
                    ``(B) practices with the same tax identification 
                number as an independence at home medical practice 
                approved under this paragraph as of the date of the 
                enactment of this subparagraph.''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (5)--
                            (i) in the first sentence, by inserting 
                        ``in 2019'' after ``15,000'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``For each subsequent 
                        year, the beneficiary limitation in effect 
                        under this paragraph for the previous year 
                        (including, if applicable, any increase made 
                        under this sentence) shall be increased by 
                        5,000 if the Secretary determines that 
                        operation of the program under this section for 
                        such previous year resulted in aggregate 
                        savings under this title for such year compared 
                        to expenditures under this title for such year 
                        had such program not been in effect.'' after 
                        the first sentence;
                            (iii) by striking ``the increase from 
                        10,000 to 15,000 in the preceding sentence'' 
                        and inserting ``an increase'';
                            (iv) by inserting ``or the amendment made 
                        by section 2(1)(D)(ii) of the Independence at 
                        Home Demonstration Improvement Act of 2020'' 
                        after ``Social Services Act'';
                            (v) by striking ``and seventh'' and 
                        inserting ``through tenth''; and
                            (vi) by inserting ``, as applicable'' after 
                        ``such program'';
            (2) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Secretary shall'' and 
                inserting the following:
            ``(2) Final report.--The Secretary shall''; and
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 
                designated by subparagraph (A), the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(1) Annual reports.--The Secretary shall conduct an 
        independent evaluation of the demonstration program and submit 
        to Congress an annual report at the close of each performance 
        year (beginning with performance year 2021), including a 
        specification of any improvements made to the program for such 
        year. Such report shall include an analysis such improvements' 
        impact on coordination of care, expenditures under this title, 
        applicable beneficiary access to services, and the quality of 
        health care services provided to applicable beneficiaries.'';
            (3) in subsection (h), by striking ``each of fiscal years 
        2010 through 2015'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2021''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Authority To Implement Improvements to Program.--The 
Secretary may make such improvements to the demonstration program not 
inconsistent with the preceding provisions of this section as the 
Secretary determines appropriate for purposes of--
            ``(1) improving coordination of care;
            ``(2) lowering expenditures;
            ``(3) increasing access to items and services under the 
        program; or
            ``(4) improving the quality of items and services furnished 
        under the program.''.
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