[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 50 (Wednesday, April 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S3784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Baucus):
  S. 2001. A bill to amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to 
make permanent the demonstration program that allows for direct billing 
of medicare, medicaid, and other third party payors, and to expand the 
eligibility under such program to other tribes and tribal 
organizations; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.


 the alaska native and american indian direct reimbursement act of 1998

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, today I rise on behalf of myself and 
Majority Leader Lott, Senator Baucus, and Senator Campbell, to 
introduce legislation which would permanently authorize and expand the 
Medicare and Medicaid direct collections demonstration program under 
section 405 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
  This act will end much of the redtape and bureaucracy for IHS 
facilities involved with Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and will 
mean more Medicaid and Medicare dollars to Native health facilities to 
use for improving health care.
  Our bill will allow Native hospitals to collect Medicare and Medicaid 
funds directly from the Health Care Financing Administration instead of 
having to go through the maze of regulations mandated by HIS.
  This bill is an expansion of a current demonstration project that 
includes Bristol Bay Health Corporation of Dillingham, Alaska; the 
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Corporation of Sitka, Alaska; the 
Mississippi Choctaw Health Center of Philadelphia, Mississippi; and the 
Choctaw Tribe of Durant, Oklahoma. All of the participants in the 
demonstration program--as well as the Department of Health and Human 
Service and the Indian Health Services--report that the program is a 
great success. In fact, the program has:
  Dramatically increased collections for Medicare and Medicaid 
services, which in turn has provided badly-needed revenues for Indian 
and Alaska Native health care; significantly reduced the turn-around 
time between billing and the receipt of payment for Medicare and 
Medicaid services; and increased the administrative efficiency of the 
participating facilities by empowering them to track their own Medicare 
and Medicaid billings and collections.
  In 1996, when the demonstration program was about to expire, Congress 
extended it through FY 1998. This extension has allowed the 
participants to continue their direct billing and collection efforts 
and has provided Congress with additional time to consider whether to 
permanently authorize the program.
  Because the demonstration program is again set to expire at the end 
of FY 98, it is time to recognize the benefits of the demonstration 
program by enacting legislation that would permanently authorize it and 
expand it to other eligible tribal participants.
  I hope that my colleagues will support this important legislation.
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