II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1798 

To amend titles XI and XVIII of the Social Security Act to prohibit outbound 

call telemarketing to individuals eligible to receive benefits under title 

XVIII of such Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 

Mr. CORZINE (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. LAUTENBERG, and Ms. 

STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend titles XI and XVIII of the Social Security Act 

to prohibit outbound call telemarketing to individuals 

eligible to receive benefits under title XVIII of such 

Act. 

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 ‘‘Medicare Do Not Call 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TELEMARKETING PROHIBITED. 

7 (a) PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLANS.—Section 1860D– 

8 4(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–l04(a)) 
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•S 1798 IS 

1 is amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION ON TELEMARKETING. 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A PDP sponsor offer5 ing a prescription drug plan shall be prohibited 

6 from conducting outbound call telemarketing 

7 (as defined in subparagraph (B)) for the pur8 pose of soliciting enrollment into such a plan 

9 under this part. 

10 ‘‘(B) OUTBOUND CALL TELEMARKETING

11 DEFINED.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro13 vided in clause (ii), for purposes of this 

14 paragraph, the term ‘outbound call tele15 marketing’ means a telephone call initiated 

16 by a telemarketer— 

17 ‘‘(I) to induce the purchase of 

18 goods or services; or 

19 ‘‘(II) to solicit a charitable con20 tribution. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CATALOG MAILINGS NOT IN22 CLUDED IN DEFINITION OF OUTBOUND

23 CALL TELEMARKETING.—Such term does 

24 not include— 

25 ‘‘(I) the mailing of a catalog; or 
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•S 1798 IS 

1 ‘‘(II) the receipt or return of a 

2 telephone call initiated by a customer 

3 in response to such mailing.’’. 

4 (b) MEDICARE ADVANTAGE ORGANIZATIONS.—Sec5 tion 1851(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 1395w–21(h)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(6) PROHIBITION ON TELEMARKETING.—A 

9 Medicare Advantage organization offering a Medi10 care Advantage plan shall be prohibited from con11 ducting outbound call telemarketing (as defined in 

12 section 1860D–4(a)(5)(B)) for the purpose of solic13 iting enrollment into such a plan under this part.’’. 

14 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FRAUDULENT TELE15 MARKETING.—Section 1128B of the Social Security Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b) is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(g) Whoever knowingly and willfully engages in de19 ceptive or abusive telemarketing acts or practices (as de20 fined in part 310.3 and part 310.4, respectively, of title 

21 16, Code of Federal Regulations), or makes any false , 

22 statement or representation of a material fact while con23 ducting outbound call telemarketing (as defined in section 

24 1860D–4(a)(5)(B)) with respect to a prescription drug 

25 plan offered by a PDP sponsor under part D of title 
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•S 1798 IS 

1 XVIII, a Medicare Advantage plan offered by a Medicare 

2 Advantage organization under part C of such title, or who 

3 falsely alleges to be conducting outbound call tele4 marketing (as so defined) with respect to either such a 

5 plan, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction there6 of shall be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned 

7 for not more than five years, or both.’’. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of 

10 this Act. 

11 SEC. 3. INCREASED FUNDING FOR STATE HEALTH INSUR12 ANCE COUNSELING AND ASSISTANCE PRO13 GRAMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are hereby appropriated to 

15 the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this Act 

16 referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) an amount equal to $2 

17 multiplied by the total number of individuals eligible for 

18 benefits under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.). Such funds shall— 

20 (1) be used by the Secretary to award grants to 

21 States under section 4360 of the Omnibus Budget 

22 Reconciliation Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 1395b–4); 

23 and 

24 (2) remain available until expended. 
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•S 1798 IS 

1 (b) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDS.—The Secretary 

2 shall ensure that funds appropriated under this section are 

3 allocated to States in an amount equal to the proportion 

4 of the number of residents in the State that are eligible 

5 for benefits under title XVIII of the Social Security Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) in relation to the total number 

7 of individuals eligible for such benefits under such title. 

8 SEC. 4. INFORMING BENEFICIARIES OF THE HHS TIPS HOT9 LINE. 

10 The Secretary shall take appropriate measures to in11 form individuals eligible for benefits under title XVIII of 

12 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) of the 

13 availability and confidentiality of the hotline maintained 

14 by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and 

15 Human Services for the reporting of fraud, waste, and 

16 abuse in the medicare program. 

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