[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 53 (Thursday, May 5, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                MEDICARE AND MEDICAID COVERAGE DATA BANK

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                           HON. EARL POMEROY

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 1994

  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to 
relieve our Nation's business community of an unreasonable and costly 
burden.
  In last year's omnibus budget bill, Congress approved a provision to 
create a Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Data Bank. The idea was to 
identify the types of insurance coverage that workers and their 
dependents are carrying. Medicare and Medicaid could then avoid making 
erroneous payments that should be made by a third-party insurer.
  The goal of the data bank is a good one. However, it will not be 
effective without major changes.
  The data bank law placed the burden of collecting and reporting the 
information on our Nation's employers, beginning January 1, 1994. 
However, since no funds were appropriated for the project, businesses 
now are collecting information for a data bank that technically does 
not exist. Furthermore, as of today, HCFA has failed to issue reporting 
guidelines.
  Another inequity is this: Businesses have to report on 100 percent of 
their employees, but only about 2 percent of the American work force is 
eligible for Medicare. In other words, about 98 percent of the 
information that we are forcing businesses to collect is irrelevant.
  Tomorrow, GAO will release a report that details the many problems 
they found with the data bank. Until we can address these problems, we 
must relieve our business community of the burden of having to gather 
and report this useless data. Today I am introducing legislation to 
repeal the employer reporting requirements.
  I also am writing the chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee and 
the Energy and Commerce Committee to urge them to appropriately address 
this problem as part of health care reform.

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