[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF MEDICARE MODERNIZATION NO. 10: THE PAPERLESS CLAIMS 
                         PROMOTION ACT OF 1999

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 9, 1999

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Medicare 
Paperless Claims Promotion Act of 1999, the 10th in a series of 
Medicare modernization bills designed to improve program administration 
and the quality of the health care for Medicare beneficiaries.
  The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 
(HIPPA), included a number of administrative reforms for Medicare. The 
submission of electronic claims to Medicare instead of traditional 
paper claims is one of the main aspects of those administrative 
simplication efforts.
  Currently, a large majority of providers submit their claims 
utilizing an electronic system. In fact, as of January 1998, about 96 
percent of all Medicare Part A claims were submitted electronically 
while 80 percent of all Medicare Part B claims were submitted in 
electronic formats. These numbers have continued to increase in the 
past year.
  While these numbers are commendable, the providers who have not yet 
begun to submit claims electronically are a real concern. Allowing 
paper claims to be submitted indefinitely will require duplicative 
systems that will create additional costs and inefficiencies for the 
Medicare system.
  The Administration has responded to this situation by proposing that 
by the beginning of fiscal year 2000 (October 1, 1999), any claims not 
submitted electronically will be subject to an administrative fee of 
$1. Since that announcement, they have assumed an additional 6 month 
delay in implementation due to Y2K activities.
  Unfortunately, however, such action is likely to have a 
disproportionate effect on smaller and rural providers that have been 
less aggressive in developing electronic information systems in their 
offices.
  I understand that developing such systems is labor intensive and 
expensive. Therefore to accommodate those providers who have not yet 
developed the capability to submit paperless claims, my bill proposes 
that the administrative fees charged for claims submitted in paper 
format would become effective as of January 1, 2003.
  In addition my bill would also grant the Secretary the power to waive 
the imposition of this administrative fee under certain circumstances, 
as she deems appropriate.
  To facilitate the implementation of electronic submission, my bill 
would also require the Secretary to make public domain software readily 
available at no charge.
  Converting to an all electronic claims system is a critical aspects 
of modernizing the Medicare program. In doing so, we must also be 
certain that we do not unfairly penalize providers in this process. My 
bill would allow providers ample time to get up to speed with the 
process prior to the imposition of administration fees for non-
compliance.
  The Paperless Claims Promotion Act of 1999 is the 10th in my series 
of Medicare modernizations. It is a sensible change to current law to 
move us an electronic filing system.

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