TciASLib-arv C2-07-13 Socu-lh/Blvd. nw2, Mar/!»rr;21244 IIOti2ii)(SMk)sXs(iJo1x{ESS H. R. 5542 Toiiniciul titlt"XVIII oftheSociiil SecurityAct toprovidefori\ tcinporiii-y inor;itoriiimonenforcementoftiieciipinnount on pnynientsforliospice ciireundertlie.MedicareProurani,andforotiierpurposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATR^S Mahcii().2008 Mr.Sri.MV.w(forliiniself,Mr. I>()i;i-:\,.Mr. LrcAS,Mi-.Colkof()klalioniii, -Ms. Falli.x, Mr. PiCKl-:i;i.\(i, .Mr. .Makciiant, .Mr. Tiiompsoxof.Mis- sissippi, .Mr. lio.x.MCK, .Mr. Skssioxs. .Mr. T.WLou. and Mr. I'lULLof .\ew .Mexico) introduced tlie foilowint'- hill; wiiicii was ivfei-red to tlie ConiniitteeonWaysandMeans,andinadditiontotlieConiniitteeonKn- ei-f>yand (Commerce,fora period tol)esni)se(|uentlydeterniined bythe Speaker, ineachcaseforconsiderationofsucli provisionsasfahwitiiin thejurisdictionofthecommitteeconcei-ned A BILL To amend title XVlll ofthe Social SecurityAct to ])ro\i(le for a temijorary moratorium on enforcement of the ca]) amountoni)a^TOentsforhospicecareundertheMechcare Proo^-am, andforotherpui'i)oses. 1 Be itenactedbytheSenateandHouseofRepresenta- 2 tivesoftheUnitedStatesofAmericain Congressassembled, 3 SECTION1.SHORTTITLE. 4 ThisAct maybe cited as the "Presening^Accessto 5 Hospice(PATH)Actof2008". — 2 1 SEC.2.TEMPORARYMORATORIUMOFENFORCEMENTOF 2 HOSPICECAPAMOUNT. 3 Section 1814(i)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 4 U.S.C. 1395f(i)(2))isamended— 5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by strikino- "The 6 amount" and inserting- "Subject to subparag:i-aph 7 (E),theamount"; and 8 (2)byad(hng-attlieendthefo^o^\^ngnewsub- 9 i)aragTai)h: 10 "(E) During the jjeriod beginnuig on No- ll vember 1, 2005 and ending on October 31, 12 2008, the i)a,Mnent hmitation under subjjara- 13 grai)h (A) shall not ap])lywith resi)ect to lios- 14 pice care provided by (or under arrangements 15 made by) a hospice program during such i)e- 16 riod. In the casewhere a hospice program has 17 made anypayments to the program under this 18 part as of the date of enactment of tliis sub- 19 paragraphthatwerenotrequiredtobemadeas 20 a result of the i)rece(hng sentence, the Sec- 21 retary shall not be required to reimburse the 22 hospice program for the amount of such pay- 23 ments.". 24 SEC.3.MEDPACSTUDYANDREPORTONHOSPICECARE. 25 (a) STrnv.—The Medicare PaymentAd^^sory Com- 26 missionshallconductastudyon •HR5542IH C2-07-13 S^.i'l'OtGiSmocc^uihM./^!Dyijv|rrJ;."i21244 1 (1) the resource effectiveness and quality of 2 lios])ice care as a sul)stitute benefit for other acute 3 care alternativesundei-the Medicai-eprogramunder XVm 4 title oftheSocial SecurityAct; 5 (2) the optimal median and average length of 6 stayinhospicecareundertheMe(hcarei)rogTam; 7 (3) the reasons fori)ersistentlylowmedian and 8 average length of stay in hospice care under the 9 Mechcare i)rogTam, and regionalvariations in timely 10 accesstohospicecareundersuchi)rocri-am; and 11 (4) the desirability ofrequiring a national eov- 12 erage determination (as defined in section 13 1869(f)(1)(B) ofthe Social SecurityAct (42 U.S.C. 14 1395ff(f)(l)(B)) in determining ehgibihty for lios- 15 i)icecareundertheMe(hcareprogram. 16 (b) Repokt.—Not later than 12 months after the 17 dateofenactmentofthisAct, theConnnission shall sub- 18 mitareportonthestudyconductedundersubsection (a), 19 togetherv^ithreconnnendationsforsuchlegislationorad- 20 ministrative action as the Commission determines appro- 21 priate. 22 (c) HospK'E Care Defixed.—In this section, the 23 term "hospice care" hasthe meaninggiven suchtermin •HR5542IH 3 ams 0DQ1D1L5 5 1 section 1861((kl) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 2 1395x((kl)). O « •HR5542IH