[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S954-S955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4958. Ms. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by

[[Page S955]]

her to the bill H.R. 3076, to provide stability to and enhance the 
services of the United States Postal Service, and for other purposes; 
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of section 101, add the following:
       (e) Studying Impact on Medicare Part B Premiums and 
     Preventing Any Significant Increase in Medicare Part B 
     Premiums.--
       (1) Study and reports.--
       (A) Study.--The Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare & 
     Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary (referred to in this 
     subsection as the ``Chief Actuary'') shall study the 
     potential impact of the implementation of the provisions of, 
     and amendments made by, this section (other than this 
     subsection) on monthly premiums under part B of title XVIII 
     of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395j et seq.).
       (B) Pre-implementation report.--Not later than January 1, 
     2025, the Chief Actuary shall submit to Congress a report 
     containing the results of the study conducted under 
     subparagraph (A).
       (C) Ongoing reports on premium impact.--Not later than the 
     date on which the Chief Actuary determines the monthly 
     actuarial rate for enrollees age 65 and over in each of 2037 
     through 2042 for the succeeding calendar year according to 
     section 1839(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     1395r(a)(1)), the Chief Actuary shall submit to Congress a 
     report on the amount of any projected increase in monthly 
     premiums under such part B for such succeeding calendar year 
     as a result of the implementation of the provisions of, and 
     amendments made by, this section (other than this 
     subsection).
       (2) Preventing any significant increase in part b 
     premiums.--Section 1839(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
     U.S.C. 1395r(a)) is amended--
       (A) in the second sentence of paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``and (7)'' and inserting ``(7), and (8)''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(8)(A) For each applicable year (as defined in 
     subparagraph (C)), the Secretary shall reduce the amount of 
     the monthly premium otherwise established under paragraph (3) 
     for applicable enrollees by the amount the Secretary 
     determines necessary to ensure that any increase in monthly 
     premiums under this part for such enrollees as a result of 
     the implementation of the provisions of, and amendments made 
     by, section 101 of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 
     (other than subsection (e) of such section) is less than the 
     applicable amount for such year.
       ``(B) In this paragraph, the term `applicable amount' 
     means, with respect to an applicable year, $15, increased by 
     the percentage increase in the consumer price index for all 
     urban consumers (U.S. city average) for the period beginning 
     with July 2022 and ending with July of the year preceding the 
     year involved. Any amount determined under the preceding 
     sentence which is not a multiple of $1 shall be rounded to 
     the nearest multiple of $1 (or, if it is a multiple of 50 
     cents but not a multiple of $1, to the next higher multiple 
     of $1).
       ``(C) In this paragraph, the term `applicable year' means 
     any year (beginning with 2038 and ending with 2043) with 
     respect to which the projected increase in monthly premiums 
     under this part for the year (as reported under section 
     101(e)(1)(C) of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022) as a 
     result of the implementation of the provisions of, and 
     amendments made by, section 101 of such Act (other than 
     subsection (e) of such section) would result in monthly 
     premiums under this part increasing by the applicable amount 
     for such year or more.
       ``(D) In this paragraph, the term `applicable enrollee' 
     means, with respect to an applicable year, an individual who 
     is not subject to a reduction in a premium subsidy pursuant 
     to subsection (i) for months in such year.''.
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