[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 75 (Monday, May 19, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       STATEMENT OF INTRODUCTION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 19, 2014

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Medicaid 
Physician Self-Referral Act of 2014. This important legislation 
provides a necessary clarification to Section 1902 of the Social 
Security Act. The legislation provides that Medicaid designated health 
services claims are subject to the same requirements as Medicare 
designated health services claims are under the Physician Self-Referral 
Law. Health care providers subject to the Physician Self-Referral Law 
should not be able to avoid penalties under the law simply because a 
claim is a Medicaid claim rather than a Medicare claim. Both programs 
involve taxpayer money and we need to ensure the long-term solvency of 
the Medicaid program, just as we do with the Medicare program.
  The Department of Justice, mindful of this, has worked to bring 
causes of action against providers under the False Claims Act involving 
violations of the Physician Self-Referral law--even in the Medicaid 
context. In one recent case, the Department of Justice relied on 42 
U.S.C. Sec. 1396b(s), which provides that a state shall not receive 
federal reimbursement for a claim submitted through the Medicaid 
program if the same claim would be rejected under the terms of the 
Medicare program, had the service been covered by Medicare instead of 
Medicaid.
  It is important to align Title XIX with other provisions involving 
the Physician Self-Referral Law and the Medicaid program. Thus, while 
the law has always provided that the Medicaid and Medicare programs 
were on equal footing vis-a-vis the Physician Self-Referral Law, this 
clarification makes this clear and leaves no doubt that Congress 
intends this to be the case.

                          ____________________