Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

The following House bills were introduced:

H.R. 1853. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require the preparation of audit reports based upon the financial auditing of Medicare+Choice organizations and to make such reports available to the public. Introduced April 29 by Rep. Bob Andrews (D-NJ), referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1854. A bill to amend Part C of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reimburse Medicare+Choice plans located in the same metropolitan statistical area the same payment rate. Introduced April 29 by Rep. Bob Andrews (D-NJ), referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1855. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require home health agencies participating in the Medicare program to conduct criminal background checks for all applicants for employment as patient care providers. Introduced April 29 by Rep. Bob Andrews (D-NJ), referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 1860. A bill to promote primary and secondary health promotion and disease prevention services and activities among the elderly, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to add preventive health benefits. Introduced April 29 by Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 1880. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide certain Medicare beneficiaries living abroad a special Medicare Part B enrollment period during which the late enrollment penalty is waived and a special Medigap open enrollment period during which no underwriting is permitted. Introduced April 30 by Rep. Bob Andrews (D-NJ), referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 1902. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve outpatient vision services under Part B of the Medicare program. Introduced May 1 by Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R. 1940. A bill to improve the provision of telehealth services under the Medicare program, to provide grants for the development of telehealth networks. Introduced May 1 by Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA), referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means.

The following Senate bills were introduced:

S. 942. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for improvements in access to services in rural hospitals and critical access hospitals. Introduced April 29 by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), referred to the Committee on Finance.

S. 951. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow Medicare beneficiaries a refundable credit against income tax for the purchase of outpatient prescription drugs. Introduced April 30 by Sen. John Warner (R-VA), referred to the Committee on Finance.

S. 952. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to reduce the work hours and increase the supervision of resident-physicians to ensure the safety of patients and resident-physicians themselves. Introduced April 30 by Sen. John Corzine (D-NJ), referred to the Committee on Finance.

S. 958. A bill to amend title XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to prevent abuse of recipients of long-term care services under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Introduced April 30 by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), referred to the Committee on Finance.