[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 208 (Wednesday, December 9, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                PAID ACT

  Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, yesterday, the Provide 
Accurate Information Directly, PAID Act took a pivotal step closer to 
becoming law. Once enacted, this vital legislation, which I had the 
privilege of coauthoring with Senator Cardin, will save tens of 
millions of taxpayer dollars through targeted and commonsense updates 
to the Medicare secondary payer, MSP, statute, which Congress first 
codified four decades ago. The PAID Act aims to ensure that the Centers 
for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, in coordinating claims related 
to Medicare Advantage MA, or Medicare Part D plans, can provide the 
information needed for settling parties to resolve claims-fairly and 
efficiently.
  In short, this bill is a boon for seniors, Main Street job creators, 
and the American taxpayer.
  As this bill approaches the legislative finish line, I would like to 
thank Chairman Grassley for his invaluable support in working with my 
office, as well as with our Democratic counterparts and with CMS, to 
bolster, refine, and identify legislative avenues for our proposal. I 
would also like to thank Senator Cardin for his partnership in co-
leading this legislation, along with Representatives Kind and 
Bilirakis, who introduced a companion bill in the House, which passed 
by voice vote yesterday. Together, I feel confident that we can see the 
PAID Act signed into law by the end of the year.
  Congress amended the MSP statute in 2007 to require parties to a 
dispute--known as primary plans--to report settlements, judgments, and 
awards to Medicare through so-called section 111 reports. This 
amendment allowed Medicare to-seek recovery from settling parties when 
Medicare paid for healthcare because other payment was not available or 
reasonably expected to be available. While this system has functioned 
well for the Medicare Fee-for-Service program, where CMS has the claims 
data needed for recovery, it has not worked successfully for the MA 
Part C and Part D programs, where CMS does not have the requisite Part 
C and Part D claims data and cannot recover for payments that have been 
made. To compound the problem, settling parties are often unable to 
identify the correct Part C or Part D plan to be able to coordinate 
benefits, should they choose to do so. This legislation closes that 
critical information by having CMS communicate the Part C and Part D 
plan identification to settling parties in response to a section 111 
report. CMS has that data and can provide it.
  Congress recognizes that for the last 8 years, CMS has provided 
section 111 reports to the Part C and Part D Plans, and Congress 
expects that CMS will continue to do so after this legislation is 
enacted. Further, the existing MSP statute and regulations impose 
specific requirements on CMS, and on Part C and Part D plans, to pay 
for claims in some situations, to not pay for claims in other 
situations, and to pursue recovery of claims when appropriate. Nothing 
in this legislation is intended to change any of those obligations or 
requirements, and Congress expects Part C and Part D plans to continue 
to seek recovery of claims by timely notifying settling parties when a 
payment has been made that should be reimbursed, consistent with the 
CMS notice procedures. This legislation is only intended to provide 
more information to the settling parties so that they have the ability 
to coordinate with Part C and Part D plans earlier, if they so choose.
  Congress has afforded CMS 12 months to implement this law, and we 
urge the agency to move with all deliberate speed to both implement its 
own system changes and coordinate with primary plans throughout the 
implementation process. Regular communication and coordination will 
prove critical in ensuring that Primary Plans are aware of the data 
exchange requirements that CMS plans to implement and are prepared as 
quickly as possible to utilize the data CMS will be providing under 
this law. By involving all stakeholders throughout the implementation 
process, CMS can implement our intent that the needed plan identity 
information be available for parties to coordinate benefits as 
efficiently as possible.

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