[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 53 (Wednesday, March 27, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Ms. Stabenow):
  S. 895. A bill to provide for a permanent extension of the 
enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient 
therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 895

       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 ``Rural Hospital Regulatory 
     Relief Act of 2019''.

     SEC. 2. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF ENFORCEMENT INSTRUCTION ON 
                   SUPERVISION REQUIREMENTS FOR OUTPATIENT 
                   THERAPEUTIC SERVICES IN CRITICAL ACCESS AND 
                   SMALL RURAL HOSPITALS.

       Section 1834 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(x) Permanent Extension of Enforcement Instruction on 
     Supervision Requirements for Outpatient Therapeutic Services 
     in Critical Access and Small Rural Hospitals.--On and after 
     the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 
     shall continue to apply the enforcement instruction described 
     in the notice of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
     entitled `Enforcement Instruction on Supervision Requirements 
     for Outpatient Therapeutic Services in Critical Access and 
     Small Rural Hospitals for CY 2013', dated November 1, 2012 
     (providing for an exception to the restatement and 
     clarification under the final rulemaking changes to the 
     Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system and 
     calendar year 2009 payment rates (published in the Federal 
     Register on November 18, 2008, 73 Fed. Reg. 68702 through 
     68704) with respect to requirements for direct supervision by 
     physicians for therapeutic hospital outpatient services) and 
     extended by section 1 of Public Law 113-198, section 1 of 
     Public Law 114-112, section 16004(a) of the 21st Century 
     Cures Act (Public Law 114-255), and section 51007 of the 
     Bipartisan Budget Act (Public Law 115-123), and reinstated 
     for calendar years 2018 and 2019 under the final rule 
     entitled `Medicare Program: Hospital Outpatient Prospective 
     Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and 
     Quality Reporting Programs' published on December 14, 2017 
     (82 Fed. Reg. 59216).''.
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