[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3447 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3447

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a program 
    to allow qualified group practices to furnish certain items and 
    services at qualified skilled nursing facilities to individuals 
  entitled to benefits under part A and enrolled under part B of the 
Medicare program to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 11, 2020

 Mr. Thune (for himself and Mr. Cardin) 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 establish a program 
    to allow qualified group practices to furnish certain items and 
    services at qualified skilled nursing facilities to individuals 
  entitled to benefits under part A and enrolled under part B of the 
Medicare program to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Reducing Unnecessary Senior 
Hospitalizations Act of 2020'' or the ``RUSH Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. SNF-BASED PROVISION OF PREVENTIVE ACUTE CARE AND 
              HOSPITALIZATION REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    Title XVIII of the Social Security Act is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section:

``SEC. 1899C. SNF-BASED PROVISION OF PREVENTIVE ACUTE CARE AND 
              HOSPITALIZATION REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established a program to be known as 
the `SNF-based Provision of Preventive Acute Care and Hospitalization 
Reduction Program' (in this section referred to as the `Program'), to 
be administered by the Secretary, for purposes of reducing unnecessary 
hospitalizations and emergency department visits by allowing qualified 
group practices (as defined in section 1877(h)(4)) on or after January 
1, 2021, to furnish items and services identified under subsection 
(b)(3) to individuals entitled to benefits under part A and enrolled 
under part B residing in qualified skilled nursing facilities.
    ``(b) Operation of Program.--Under the Program, the Secretary shall 
provide for the following:
            ``(1) Certification of skilled nursing facilities as 
        qualified skilled nursing facilities under subsection (c)(1).
            ``(2) Certification of group practices as qualified group 
        practices under subsection (c)(2).
            ``(3) Identification of minimum required nonsurgical items 
        and services furnished at a hospital emergency department that 
        may be safely furnished by a qualified group practice at a 
        qualified skilled nursing facility under the Program and that 
        such qualified group practice shall offer to furnish under the 
        Program.
            ``(4) Annual identification of additional items and 
        services furnished at a hospital emergency department that may 
        be safely furnished by a qualified group practice at a 
        qualified skilled nursing facility under the Program during a 
        year and that such qualified group practice may offer to 
        furnish under the Program during such year.
            ``(5) Establishment of qualifications for nonphysician 
        employees who may furnish such items and services at a 
        qualified skilled nursing facility. Such qualifications shall 
        include the requirement that such an employee--
                    ``(A) be certified in basic life support by a 
                nationally recognized specialty board of certification 
                or equivalent certification board; and
                    ``(B) have--
                            ``(i) clinical experience furnishing 
                        medical care--
                                    ``(I) in a skilled nursing 
                                facility;
                                    ``(II) in a hospital emergency 
                                department setting; or
                                    ``(III) as an employee of a 
                                provider or supplier of ambulance 
                                services; or
                            ``(ii) a certification in paramedicine.
            ``(6) Payment under this title for items and services 
        identified under paragraph (3) or (4) furnished by such 
        qualified group practices at such a facility in amounts 
        determined under subsection (d).
    ``(c) Certifications.--
            ``(1) Qualified skilled nursing facilities.--For purposes 
        of this section, the Secretary shall certify a skilled nursing 
        facility as a qualified skilled nursing facility if the 
        facility submits an application in a time and manner specified 
        by the Secretary and meets the following requirements:
                    ``(A) The facility has on-site diagnostic equipment 
                necessary for a qualified group practice to furnish 
                items and services under the Program and real-time 
                audio and visual capabilities.
                    ``(B) The facility has at least one individual who 
                meets the qualifications described in paragraph (5) or 
                a physician present 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to 
                work with the qualified group practice. Such individual 
                may be a member of the staff of the qualified skilled 
                nursing facility or of the qualified group practice.
                    ``(C) The facility ensures that residents of such 
                facility, upon entering such facility, are allowed to 
                specify in an advanced care directive whether the 
                resident wishes to receive items and services furnished 
                at the facility under the Program in a case where 
                communication with the resident is not possible.
                    ``(D) The facility ensures that individuals to be 
                furnished such items and services under the Program at 
                such facility have the opportunity, at their request, 
                to instead be transported to a hospital emergency 
                department.
                    ``(E) The facility is not part of the Special Focus 
                Facility program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
                Services (although the facility may, at the discretion 
                of the Secretary, be a candidate for selection under 
                such program).
        Nothing in this paragraph shall affect the requirements under 
        section 1819(b)(4).
            ``(2) Qualified group practices.--For purposes of this 
        section, the Secretary shall certify a group practice as a 
        qualified group practice for a period of 3 years if the group 
        practice submits an application in a time and manner specified 
        by the Secretary and meets the following requirements:
                    ``(A) The group practice offers to furnish all 
                minimum required items and services identified under 
                subsection (b)(3) under the Program.
                    ``(B) The group practice submits a notification to 
                the Secretary annually specifying which (if any) 
                additional items and services identified under 
                subsection (b)(4) for a year the group practice will 
                offer to furnish for such year under the Program.
                    ``(C) The group practice ensures that only 
                individuals who meet the qualifications established 
                under subsection (b)(5) or a physician who is part of 
                such group practice may furnish such minimum required 
                items and services and such additional items and 
                services.
                    ``(D) The group practice ensures that, in the case 
                where such minimum required items and services or such 
                additional items and services are furnished by such an 
                individual, such individual furnishes such minimum 
                required items and services or additional items and 
                services under the supervision, either in-person or 
                through the use of telehealth (not including store-and-
                forward technologies), of--
                            ``(i) a physician--
                                    ``(I) who is board certified or 
                                board eligible in emergency medicine, 
                                family medicine, geriatrics, or 
                                internal medicine; or
                                    ``(II) who has been certified by a 
                                nationally recognized specialty board 
                                of certification or equivalent 
                                certification board in basic life 
                                support;
                            ``(ii) a nurse practitioner who has been 
                        certified by a nationally recognized specialty 
                        board of certification or equivalent 
                        certification board in basic life support; or
                            ``(iii) a physician assistant who has been 
                        certified by a nationally recognized specialty 
                        board of certification or equivalent 
                        certification board in basic life support.
                    ``(E) With respect to any year in which the 
                qualified group practice would participate in the 
                Program, the Chief Actuary for the Centers for Medicare 
                & Medicaid Services determines that such participation 
                during such year will not result in total estimated 
                expenditures under this title for such year being 
                greater than total estimated expenditures under such 
                title for such year without such participation.
    ``(d) Payments.--
            ``(1) In general.--For 2021 and each subsequent year, the 
        Secretary shall develop a schedule of payments to apply for 
        items and services identified under paragraph (3) or paragraph 
        (4) of subsection (b) furnished during such year under the 
        Program. Such payments shall be in lieu of any other payments 
        that may be made under this title for such items and services.
            ``(2) Shared savings.--In the case of a year for which the 
        Secretary determines that participation in the Program resulted 
        in a reduction in expenditures under this title compared to 
        what such expenditures would have been without such 
        participation, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) pay to such qualified group practice an 
                amount equal to 37.5 percent of the estimated amount of 
                such reduction; and
                    ``(B) in the case of each qualified skilled nursing 
                facility where such qualified group practice furnished 
                items and services under the Program during such year--
                            ``(i) if the qualified skilled nursing 
                        facility has at least a three-star rating under 
                        the Five Star Quality Rating System (or a 
                        successor system), pay to the facility an 
                        amount that bears the same ratio to 12.5 
                        percent of the estimated amount of such 
                        reduction as the amount of expenditures under 
                        the Program for such items and services 
                        furnished with respect to individuals at such 
                        facility by such qualified group practice 
                        during such year bears to the total amount of 
                        expenditures under the Program for such items 
                        and services furnished with respect to all 
                        individuals by such qualified group practice 
                        during such year; and
                            ``(ii) in the case of a qualified skilled 
                        nursing facility that is not described in 
                        clause (i), retain in the Federal Hospital 
                        Insurance Trust Fund under section 1817 the 
                        amount that the facility would have been paid 
                        pursuant to clause (i) if the facility were 
                        described in such clause until such time as the 
                        facility has at least a three-star rating under 
                        the Five Star Quality Rating System (or a 
                        successor system), at which point the Secretary 
                        shall pay such amount to the facility.
            ``(3) Advanced alternative payment models.--Paragraph (2) 
        shall not apply to items and services furnished to an 
        individual entitled to benefits under part A and enrolled under 
        Part B for whom shared savings would otherwise be attributed 
        through an advanced alternative payment model as authorized 
        under section 1115A or section 1899.
    ``(e) Evaluation.--
            ``(1) In general.--With respect to a qualified group 
        practice and a qualified skilled nursing facility, not later 
        than 6 months after such group practice begins furnishing items 
        and services under the Program (or, in the case of a qualified 
        skilled nursing facility, not less than 6 months after a 
        qualified group practice first furnishes such items and 
        services at such facility), and not less than once every 2 
        years thereafter, the Secretary shall evaluate such qualified 
        group practice and such qualified facility using information 
        received under paragraph (2) on such criteria as determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Reporting of information.--In a time and manner 
        specified by the Secretary, a qualified group practice and a 
        qualified skilled nursing facility shall submit to the 
        Secretary a report containing the following information with 
        respect to items and services furnished under the Program 
        during a reporting period (as specified by the Secretary):
                    ``(A) The number of individuals with respect to 
                whom such group practice furnished such items and 
                services in such period (or, in the case of a qualified 
                skilled nursing facility, the number of individuals 
                with respect to whom such a group practice furnished 
                such items and services at such facility in such 
                period).
                    ``(B) The number of such individuals who were 
                admitted to a hospital or treated in the emergency 
                department of a hospital within 24 hours of being 
                furnished such items and services.
                    ``(C) Other information determined appropriate by 
                the Secretary.
            ``(3) Loss of qualified certification.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 3 months after a 
                determination described in this sentence is made, the 
                Secretary may revoke the certification of a qualified 
                skilled nursing facility or a qualified group practice 
                made under subsection (c) if--
                            ``(i) the Chief Actuary of the Centers for 
                        Medicare & Medicaid Services determines that 
                        the participation of such skilled nursing 
                        facility or such group practice in the Program 
                        during a year resulted in total expenditures 
                        under this title for such period being greater 
                        than total expenditures under such title would 
                        have been during such period without such 
                        participation; or
                            ``(ii) a facility is selected for the 
                        Special Focus Facility program or, if the 
                        facility is a candidate for the Special Focus 
                        Facility program, the Secretary determines that 
                        the participation of such facility in the 
                        Program should be terminated.
                    ``(B) Exclusion from certification.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In the case that the 
                        Secretary revokes the certification of a 
                        qualified skilled nursing facility or a 
                        qualified group practice under subparagraph 
                        (A), such skilled nursing facility or such 
                        group practice shall be ineligible for 
                        certification as a qualified skilled nursing 
                        facility or a qualified group practice (as 
                        applicable) under subsection (c) for the 
                        applicable period (as defined under clause 
                        (ii)).
                            ``(ii) Applicable period defined.--In this 
                        subparagraph, the term `applicable period' 
                        means--
                                    ``(I) if the revocation of a 
                                facility or group practice under 
                                subparagraph (A) is due to the 
                                application of clause (i) of such 
                                subparagraph, a 1-year period beginning 
                                on the date of such revocation; and
                                    ``(II) in the revocation of a 
                                facility under subparagraph (A) is due 
                                to the application of clause (ii) of 
                                such subparagraph, the period beginning 
                                on the date of such revocation and 
                                ending on the date on which the 
                                facility graduates from the Special 
                                Focus Facility program (or, in the case 
                                of a facility that is a candidate for 
                                such program, the date on which the 
                                facility is no longer such a candidate, 
                                as determined by the Secretary).
    ``(f) Determination of Budget Neutrality; Termination of Program.--
            ``(1) Determination.--Not later than July 1, 2026, the 
        Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
        shall determine whether the Program has resulted in an increase 
        in total expenditures under this title with respect to the 
        period beginning on January 1, 2021, and ending on December 31, 
        2025, compared to what such expenditures would have been during 
        such period had the Program not been in operation.
            ``(2) Termination.--If the Chief Actuary makes a 
        determination under paragraph (1) that the Program has resulted 
        in an increase in total expenditures under this title, the 
        Secretary shall terminate the Program as of January 1 of the 
        first year beginning after such determination.''.
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