II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2059 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a 90-day 

period for the determination of whether a MIPS eligible professional 

or eligible hospital is a meaningful EHR user and to remove the allor-nothing approach to meaningful use, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2017 

Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BURR, Mr. ENZI, Mr. ROBERTS, and Mr. CASSIDY) 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 90-day period for the determination of whether 

a MIPS eligible professional or eligible hospital is a 

meaningful EHR user and to remove the all-or-nothing 

approach to meaningful use, 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 ‘‘EHR Regulatory Relief 

5 Act’’. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2059 IS

1 SEC. 2. 90-DAY PERIOD FOR DETERMINATION OF WHETHER 

2 A MIPS ELIGIBLE PROFESSIONAL OR AN ELI3 GIBLE HOSPITAL IS A MEANINGFUL EHR 

4 USER. 

5 (a) INCLUSION OF 90-DAY PERFORMANCE PERIOD

6 FOR ADVANCING CARE INFORMATION PERFORMANCE

7 CATEGORY UNDER MIPS.—Section 1848(q)(4) of the So8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(q)(4)) is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘For 

10 purposes of determining a performance period for the per11 formance category described in paragraph (2)(A)(iv), and 

12 for purposes of the performance period described in sub13 section (o)(2)(D), such term shall also include a contin14 uous 90-day period (as specified by the Secretary in rule15 making), in addition to any other period (or periods) speci16 fied by the Secretary.’’. 

17 (b) FOR AN ELIGIBLE HOSPITAL FOR THE 2017 

18 EHR REPORTING PERIOD AND SUBSEQUENT REPORTING

19 PERIODS AND PAYMENT ADJUSTMENTS FOR FISCAL

20 YEAR 2019 AND SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—Section 

21 1886(b)(3)(B)(ix)(IV) of the Social Security Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)(B)(ix)(IV)) is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following new sentence: ‘‘For the EHR report24 ing period with respect to fiscal year 2019 and each subse25 quent fiscal year, such term shall also include any contin26 uous 90-day period (as specified by the Secretary in ruleVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Nov 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2059.IS S2059

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2059 IS

1 making), in addition to any other period (or periods) speci2 fied by the Secretary.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REMOVING THE ALL-OR-NOTHING APPROACH TO 

4 MEANINGFUL USE. 

5 (a) ENSURING FLEXIBILITY FOR ADVANCING CARE

6 INFORMATION PERFORMANCE CATEGORY SCORE.—The 

7 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall take into 

8 consideration any findings or recommendations of the 

9 Comptroller General of the United States in the report 

10 under section 101(c)(2)(A) of the Medicare Access and 

11 CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–10) 

12 with respect to ensuring flexibility in assessing the per13 formance of MIPS eligible professionals under the Merit14 based Incentive Payment System under section 1848(q) 

15 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(q)) for the 

16 performance category described in paragraph (2)(A)(iv) of 

17 such section, as applicable and appropriate. 

18 (b) FOR ELIGIBLE HOSPITALS.—Section 1886(n)(3) 

19 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(n)(3)) is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following new para21 graph: 

22 ‘‘(D) FLEXIBILITY FOR MEANINGFUL USE

23 DETERMINATIONS FOR ELIGIBLE HOSPITALS.— 

24 In applying clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of sub25 paragraph (A), for purposes of subsection 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2059 IS

1 (b)(3)(B)(ix) for an EHR reporting period 

2 under such subsection with respect to fiscal 

3 years after 2019, the Secretary shall determine 

4 that an eligible hospital is a meaningful EHR 

5 user for the EHR reporting period for such fis6 cal years using a methodology specified by the 

7 Secretary through rulemaking based on per8 formance with respect to objectives and meas9 ures established by the Secretary that are met 

10 by an eligible hospital. Such methodology shall 

11 allow an eligible hospital to be a meaningful 

12 EHR user if they achieve 70 percent (or a por13 tion between 50 and 70 percent) of such meas14 ures or if they achieve a composite score (as de15 termined by the Secretary through rulemaking) 

16 based on such measures.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. REDUCING VOLUME OF FUTURE EHR-RELATED SIG18 NIFICANT HARDSHIP REQUESTS. 

19 The last sentence of sections 1848(o)(2)(A) and 

20 1886(n)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 1395w–4(o)(2)(A), 1395ww(n)(3)(A)) are each amended 

22 by striking ‘‘by’’ and all that follows before the period at 

23 the end. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2059 IS

1 SEC. 5. EXTENDING FLEXIBILITY IN APPLYING HARDSHIP 

2 EXCEPTION FOR MEANINGFUL USE FOR AN 

3 ELIGIBLE HOSPITAL FOR THE 2017 EHR RE4 PORTING PERIOD AND PAYMENT ADJUST5 MENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019. 

6 Section 1886(b)(3)(B)(ix) of the Social Security Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)(B)(ix)) is amended— 

8 (1) in the first sentence of subclause (II)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2017’’ and in10 serting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2017 and 2019’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘April 1, 2016’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘the applicable date (as defined in sub14 clause (V))’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub16 clause: 

17 ‘‘(V) For purposes of this clause, the term ‘applicable 

18 date’ means— 

19 ‘‘(aa) with respect to the payment reduction 

20 under subclause (I) for fiscal year 2017, April 1, 

21 2016; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the payment reduction 

23 under subclause (I) for fiscal year 2019, April 1, 

24 2018.’’. 

Æ 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS