[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 586 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 586

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove the 96-hour 
   physician certification requirement for inpatient critical access 
                           hospital services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 27, 2019

  Mr. Roberts (for himself, Mr. Tester, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Bennet, Ms. 
  Murkowski, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Rounds) 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 remove the 96-hour 
   physician certification requirement for inpatient critical access 
                           hospital services.

    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 ``Critical Access Hospital Relief Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. REMOVING MEDICARE 96-HOUR PHYSICIAN CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT 
              FOR INPATIENT CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITAL SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Section 1814(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395f(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6), by adding ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (7), at the end of subparagraph (E), by 
        striking ``and'' and inserting a period; and
            (3) by striking paragraph (8).
    (b) Application.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply 
with respect to items and services furnished on or after January 1, 
2020.
                                 <all>