[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8120-H8121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMPOWERING SENIORS' ENROLLMENT DECISION ACT OF 2018
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 6662) to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to
extend the special election period under part C of the Medicare program
for certain deemed individuals enrolled in a reasonable cost
reimbursement contract to certain nondeemed individuals enrolled in
such contract, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6662
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 ``Empowering Seniors'
Enrollment Decision Act of 2018''.
[[Page H8121]]
SEC. 2. EXTENDING THE SPECIAL ELECTION PERIOD UNDER PART C OF
THE MEDICARE PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN DEEMED
INDIVIDUALS ENROLLED IN A REASONABLE COST
REIMBURSEMENT CONTRACT TO ANY MA ELIGIBLE
INDIVIDUAL ENROLLED IN SUCH A CONTRACT DURING
THE FINAL YEAR SUCH A CONTRACT IS EXTENDED;
EXTENDING CONVERSIONS OF REASONABLE COST
REIMBURSEMENT CONTRACTS TO MA PLANS.
(a) Extending the Special Election Period Under Part C of
the Medicare Program for Certain Deemed Individuals Enrolled
in a Reasonable Cost Reimbursement Contract to Any MA
Eligible Individual Enrolled in Such a Contract During the
Final Year Such a Contract Is Extended.--
(1) In general.--Section 1851(e)(2)(F) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-21(e)(2)(F)) is amended--
(A) in the header, by striking ``deemed elections'' and
inserting ``individuals enrolled in a reasonable cost
reimbursement contract''; and
(B) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:
``(i) In general.--With respect to a reasonable cost
reimbursement contract under section 1876(h) that is not
extended or renewed, an individual enrolled in the contract
for the final year in which such contract is extended or
renewed may, at any time during the period beginning after
the last day of the annual, coordinated election period under
paragraph (3) occurring during such final year and ending on
the last day of February of the first plan year following
such final year, change the election under subsection (a)(1)
(including changing the MA plan or MA-PD plan in which the
individual is enrolled) for such first plan year following
such final year.''.
(2) Clarification relating to deemed individuals enrolled
in a reasonable reimbursement contract.--Section
1851(c)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-
21(c)(4)(A)) is amended--
(A) by amending clause (ii) to read as follows:
``(ii) such previous plan year was the final year in which
such contract was extended or renewed;''; and
(B) in clause (iii) by striking ``subclause (III) of such
section'' and inserting ``section 1876(h)(5)(C)(iv)(IV)''.
(b) Extending Conversions of Reasonable Cost Reimbursement
Contracts to MA Plans.--Section 1876(h)(5)(C) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395mm(h)(5)(C)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iv)--
(A) in subclause (I), by striking the last sentence;
(B) by redesignating subclauses (I) through (V) as
subclauses (II) through (VI), respectively;
(C) by inserting before subclause (II), as so redesignated,
the following subclause:
``(I) The final year in which such contract is extended or
renewed is referred to in this subsection as the `last
reasonable cost reimbursement contract year for the
contract'.''; and
(D) in subclause (V), as so redesignated, by striking
``subclause (III)'' and inserting ``subclause (IV)''; and
(2) in clause (v), by striking ``that is extended or
renewed pursuant to clause (iv) provides the notice described
in clause (iv)(III)'' and inserting ``that is not to be
extended or renewed provides the notice described in clause
(iv)(IV)''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.
General Leave
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6662, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Minnesota?
There was no objection.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, our seniors deserve to have adequate time to choose the
Medicare plan that best fits their healthcare needs. This is especially
important today for seniors who are currently enrolled in a Medicare
cost plan that will be impacted by a mandatory transition date starting
on January 1 of next year.
That is why I authored and introduced this legislation, H.R. 6662,
the Empowering Seniors' Enrollment Decision Act, to ensure that cost
plan enrollees have extra enrollment time when choosing a Medicare plan
later this fall.
I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Kind, for his work on this
legislation, as well and his bipartisan support.
It is recognized there are more than 630,000 cost plan enrollees
nationwide. Approximately 400,000 of those enrollees are actually in my
State in Minnesota. Now some cost plan beneficiaries will be allowed to
stay with their current cost plan, and others will be deemed, or
automatically enrolled, later at the end of this year to a new Medicare
Advantage plan. Nondeemed beneficiaries, however, will be forced to
shop for new Medicare coverage.
This bipartisan bill we have before us today extends and moves the
special enrollment period for all cost plan enrollees from December 8
until the end of February of next year, 2019. So the bill would
essentially fix current law to allow cost plans to deem existing
enrollees into new Medicare Advantage plans in future years. H.R. 6662
provides much-needed certainty for our seniors.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the committee and Congressman Kind for
their work on partnering with this effort, and I reserve the balance of
my time.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this is a technical change, and it needed to be done.
The special enrollment period did not initially apply to nondeemed
enrollees. So to address this concern, CMS has promulgated regulations
allowing nondeemed enrollees to participate in this special enrollment
period.
So what this bill does is to simply codify this regulation. So it is
not clear that it is necessary to codify it, but, surely, there can be
no harm. There is a need to take action, and, therefore, I support this
bill.
As I discussed earlier on this legislation, there was bipartisan
support. I wish that that kind of bipartisanship had been spread to
issues that aren't technical and issues that involve the lives and
health of millions of people. That never has been forthcoming. The
opposite has been true.
This is an example of bipartisanship on this specific technical
issue.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, just to remind our Members, I want to thank Mr. Levin
for his comments on the bipartisan components of this bill as well.
The bill does provide and ensure that there is certainty for our
seniors who may need a little bit of extra time as they navigate their
Medicare choices and they decide which choices and options are best for
them. This can be a cumbersome and confusing process.
I want to thank, again, Representative Kind, my colleague, for his
work on this bill. We look forward to having a strong bipartisan vote
in the House as it moves forward.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1515
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 6662, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend
title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend the special election
period under part C of the Medicare program for certain deemed
individuals enrolled in a reasonable cost reimbursement contract to any
Medicare Advantage eligible individual enrolled in such a contract
during the final year such contract is extended, and for other
purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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