II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1081 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a minimum 

update for physicians’ services for 2006 and 2007. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2005 

Mr. KYL (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. CORZINE, and Mr. TALENT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 

for a minimum update for physicians’ services for 2006 

and 2007.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Patient Ac5 cess to Physicians Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. MINIMUM UPDATE FOR PHYSICIANS’ SERVICES FOR 

2 2006 AND 2007. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1848(d) of the Social Se4 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(d)) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(6) UPDATE FOR 2006.—The update to the 

7 single conversion factor established in paragraph 

8 (1)(C) for 2006 shall not be less than 2.7 percent. 

9 ‘‘(7) UPDATE FOR 2007.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The update to the sin11 gle conversion factor established in paragraph 

12 (1)(C) for 2007 shall not be less than the prod13 uct of— 

14 ‘‘(i) 1 plus the Secretary’s estimate of 

15 the percentage change in the value of the 

16 input price index (as provided under sub17 paragraph (B)(ii)) for 2007 (divided by 

18 100); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) 1 minus the Secretary’s estimate 

20 of the productivity adjustment factor under 

21 subparagraph (C) for 2007. 

22 ‘‘(B) INPUT PRICE INDEX.— 

23 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—Taking into 

24 account the mix of goods and services in25 cluded in computing the medicare economic 

26 index (referred to in the fourth sentence of 
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1 section 1842(b)(3)), the Secretary shall es2 tablish an index that reflects the weighted3 average input prices for physicians’ serv4 ices for 2006. Such index shall only ac5 count for input prices and not changes in 

6 costs that may result from other factors 

7 (such as productivity). 

8 ‘‘(ii) ANNUAL ESTIMATE OF CHANGE

9 IN INDEX.—The Secretary shall estimate, 

10 before the beginning of 2007, the change 

11 in the value of the input price index under 

12 clause (i) from 2006 to 2007. 

13 ‘‘(C) PRODUCTIVITY ADJUSTMENT FAC14 TOR.—The Secretary shall estimate, and cause 

15 to be published in the Federal Register not 

16 later than November 1, 2006, a productivity ad17 justment factor for 2007 that reflects the Sec18 retary’s estimate of growth in multifactor pro19 ductivity in the national economy, taking into 

20 account growth in productivity attributable to 

21 both labor and nonlabor factors. Such adjust22 ment may be based on a multi-year moving av23 erage of productivity (based on data published 

24 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics).’’. 
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 1848(d)(4)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 1395w–4(d)(4)(B)) is amended, in the matter preceding 

4 clause (i), by striking ‘‘and paragraph (5)’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘paragraphs (5), (6), and (7)’’.

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