II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4717 

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to streamline enrollment 

of certain Medicaid providers across State lines, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

HAWLEY, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to streamline 

enrollment of certain Medicaid providers across State 

lines, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Accelerating Kids’ Ac5 cess to Care Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STREAMLINED SCREENING AND ENROLLMENT 

2 PROCESS FOR ELIGIBLE OUT-OF-STATE MED3 ICAID PROVIDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1902(kk) of the Social Se5 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(kk)) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(10) STREAMLINED SCREENING AND ENROLL8 MENT PROCESS FOR ELIGIBLE OUT-OF-STATE PRO9 VIDERS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection 

11 (a)(65), the State adopts a streamlined screen12 ing and enrollment process for eligible out-of13 State providers. 

14 ‘‘(B) STREAMLINED SCREENING AND EN15 ROLLMENT PROCESS.—For purposes of sub16 paragraph (A), the term ‘streamlined screening 

17 and enrollment process’ means a process that 

18 enables an eligible out-of-State provider to en19 roll as a provider in the State plan on a sim20 plified and streamlined basis in accordance with 

21 the requirements of subparagraph (D). 

22 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE OUT-OF-STATE PRO23 VIDER.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), the 

24 term ‘eligible out-of-State provider’ means, with 

25 respect to a State, a pediatric provider that fur26 nishes medical services to a child (or to an 


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1 adult if such services are to treat a condition 

2 that presented during childhood) for which pay3 ment is available under the State plan under 

4 this title, if— 

5 ‘‘(i) the provider is located in another 

6 State and is enrolled as a provider in good 

7 standing under the State plan of such 

8 other State; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the category of 

10 provider to which such provider belongs, 

11 the Secretary has determined there is a 

12 limited risk of fraud, waste, or abuse for 

13 purposes of determining the level of screen14 ing to be conducted under section 

15 1866(j)(2)(B). 

16 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of 

17 subparagraph (B), the requirements of this sub18 paragraph are the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) An eligible out-of-State provider 

20 that elects to be and is enrolled in the pro21 gram established under this title in accord22 ance with the process established by the 

23 Secretary under section 2(b) of the Accel24 erating Kids’ Access to Care Act is en25 rolled in the State plan under this title 


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1 without being subject to any additional 

2 screening and enrollment activities re3 quired by the State. 

4 ‘‘(ii) An eligible out-of-State provider 

5 that is enrolled in the State plan through 

6 the streamlined screening and enrollment 

7 process shall be enrolled for a period of 5 

8 years before being required to obtain re9 validation. 

10 ‘‘(iii) An eligible out-of-State provider 

11 that is enrolled in the State plan through 

12 the streamlined screening and enrollment 

13 process shall be permitted to order all 

14 clinically necessary follow-up care, includ15 ing with respect to the prescribing of medi16 cations.’’. 

17 (b) COORDINATION WITH MEDICARE.—The Sec18 retary shall establish a process for permitting a provider 

19 the option, when enrolling in the program established 

20 under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the So21 cial Security Act pursuant to subpart P of part 424 of 

22 title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 

23 regulation), to elect, at the same time, to enroll in the 

24 Medicaid program under title XIX of such Act for pur25 poses of all State plans under such title XIX. The SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Oct 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4717.IS S4717

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1 retary may utilize the Medicare Provider Enrollment, 

2 Chain and Ownership System (referred to as ‘‘PECOS’’), 

3 or another national, standardized, and widely accessible 

4 platform to establish such process. 

5 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) Section 1902(a)(77) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 1396a(a)(77)), is amended by inserting ‘‘enroll8 ment,’’ after ‘‘screening,’’. 

9 (2) Section 1902(kk) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 1396a(kk)), as amended by subsection (a), is further 

11 amended— 

12 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

13 ‘‘ENROLLMENT,’’ after ‘‘SCREENING,’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘Noth15 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para16 graph (10)(D)(i), nothing’’. 

17 (3) Section 2107(e)(1)(F) of such Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)(F)) is amended by inserting 

19 ‘‘enrollment,’’ after ‘‘screening,’’. 

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

23 take effect on January 1, 2021. 

24 (2) EXCEPTION FOR STATE LEGISLATION.—In 

25 the case of a State plan for medical assistance under 


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1 title XIX of the Social Security Act or a State child 

2 health plan under title XXI of such Act which the 

3 Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 

4 requires State legislation (other than legislation ap5 propriating funds) in order for the plan to meet the 

6 additional requirements imposed by the amendments 

7 made by this section, such State plan shall not be 

8 regarded as failing to comply with the requirements 

9 of such title solely on the basis of its failure to meet 

10 these additional requirements before the first day of 

11 the first calendar quarter beginning after the close 

12 of the first regular session of the State legislature 

13 that begins after the date of the enactment of this 

14 Act. For purposes of the previous sentence, in the 

15 case of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, 

16 each year of such session shall be deemed to be a 

17 separate regular session of the State legislature. 

Æ 


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