[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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