I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3220 

To establish a smart card pilot program under the Medicare program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2015 

Mr. ROSKAM (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DOLD, Mr. BRENDAN F. 

BOYLE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a smart card pilot program under the Medicare 

program. 

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 Common Ac5 cess Card Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SECURE MEDICARE CARD PILOT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PILOT PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION (PHASE I).— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3220 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall conduct a pilot program under title 

4 XVIII of the Social Security Act for the purpose of 

5 utilizing smart card technology for Medicare bene6 ficiary identification cards in order to— 

7 (A) increase the quality of care furnished 

8 to Medicare beneficiaries; 

9 (B) improve the accuracy and efficiency in 

10 the billing for Medicare items and services; 

11 (C) reduce the potential for identity theft 

12 and other unlawful use of Medicare beneficiary 

13 identifying information; and 

14 (D) reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in the 

15 Medicare program. 

16 (2) SITE REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 conduct the pilot program in at least 3 areas in 

19 which the Secretary determines there is a high 

20 risk for waste and abuse. 

21 (B) PRIORITY IN TIMING OF DISTRIBUTION

22 OF CARDS.—In each site selected by the Sec23 retary under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

24 shall give priority in the provision of the identi25 fication cards to Medicare beneficiaries who 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3220 IH

1 self-identify as individuals whose personal iden2 tity and health information has previously been 

3 compromised. 

4 (3) DESIGN OF PILOT PROGRAM.—In designing 

5 the pilot program, the Secretary shall provide for the 

6 following: 

7 (A) Implementation of a system that uti8 lizes a smart card as a Medicare identification 

9 card for Medicare beneficiaries. Such a card 

10 shall contain appropriate security features and 

11 protect personal privacy. 

12 (B) Issuance of a new smart card to all 

13 Medicare beneficiaries participating in the pilot 

14 program. Such card shall have the Medicare 

15 identification number of the beneficiary stored 

16 securely on the smart card chip along with 

17 other information the Secretary deems nec18 essary. 

19 (C) A process under which the cards issued 

20 under subparagraph (B) are used by both Medi21 care beneficiaries and Medicare providers to 

22 verify eligibility, prevent fraud, and authorize 

23 transactions. 

24 (D) Regular monitoring and review by the 

25 Secretary of Medicare providers’ Medicare bilVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:44 Jul 28, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3220.IH H3220

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3220 IH

1 lings and Medicare beneficiaries’ Medicare 

2 records in order to identify and address inac3 curate charges and instances of waste, fraud, or 

4 abuse. 

5 (E) Reporting mechanisms for measuring 

6 the cost savings to the Medicare program by 

7 reason of the pilot program. 

8 (F) Include provisions— 

9 (i) to ensure that all devices and sys10 tems utilized as part of the pilot program 

11 comply with standards for identity creden12 tials developed by the American National 

13 Standards Institute and the National Insti14 tute of Standards and Technology and 

15 Federal requirements relating to interoper16 ability and information security, including 

17 all requirements under the Health Insur18 ance Portability and Accountability Act of 

19 1996; 

20 (ii) to ensure that a Medicare bene21 ficiary’s personal identifying, health, and 

22 other information is protected from unau23 thorized access or disclosure through the 

24 use of at least two-factor authentication; 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3220 IH

1 (iii) for the development of procedures 

2 and guidelines for the use of identification 

3 cards, card readers, kiosks, and other 

4 equipment to verify a Medicare bene5 ficiary’s identity and eligibility for services; 

6 (iv) to ensure that each Medicare ben7 eficiary participating in the pilot program 

8 is informed of— 

9 (I) the purpose of the program; 

10 (II) the processes for capturing, 

11 enrolling, and verifying their eligi12 bility; and 

13 (III) the steps that will be taken 

14 to protect personal identifying, health, 

15 and other information from unauthor16 ized access and disclosure; 

17 (v) for addressing problems related to 

18 the loss, theft, or malfunction of or dam19 age to equipment and any identifying docu20 ments or materials provided by the Sec21 retary; 

22 (vi) for development of a hotline or 

23 other means by which Medicare bene24 ficiaries can contact the Secretary for as25 sistance; and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3220 IH

1 (vii) for addressing problems related 

2 to accessing care outside the pilot area and 

3 cases where the individual faces issues re4 lated to physical or other capacity limita5 tions. 

6 (4) PRIVACY.—Information on the smart card 

7 shall only be disclosed if the disclosure of such infor8 mation is permitted under the Federal regulations 

9 (concerning the privacy of individually identifiable 

10 health information) promulgated under section 

11 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac12 countability Act of 1996. 

13 (5) DISCLOSURE EXEMPTION.—Information on 

14 the smart card shall be exempt from disclosure 

15 under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States 

16 Code. 

17 (b) EXPANDED IMPLEMENTATION (PHASE II).— 

18 Taking into account the interim report under subsection 

19 (d)(2) the Secretary shall, through rulemaking, expand 

20 the duration and the scope of the pilot program, to the 

21 extent determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

22 (c) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may waive 

23 such requirements of titles XI and XVIII of the Social 

24 Security Act as may be necessary to carry out the pur25 poses of the pilot program established under this section. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3220 IH

1 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

2 (1) PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

4 shall submit to Congress a report that contains a de5 scription of the design and development of the pilot 

6 program, including the Secretary’s plan for imple7 mentation. 

8 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 

9 years after the date that the pilot program is first 

10 implemented, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

11 a report on the pilot program. Such report shall con12 tain a detailed description of issues related to the ex13 pansion of the program under subsection (b), rec14 ommendations for such legislation and administra15 tive actions as the Secretary considers appropriate 

16 for implementation of the program on a nationwide 

17 basis, and justifications for such recommendations. 

18 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) MEDICARE BENEFICIARY.—The term 

20 ‘‘Medicare beneficiary’’ means an individual entitled 

21 to, or enrolled for, benefits under part A of title 

22 XVIII of the Social Security Act or enrolled for ben23 efits under part B of such title. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3220 IH

1 (2) MEDICARE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Medicare 

2 program’’ means the health benefits program under 

3 title XVIII of the Social Security Act. 

4 (3) MEDICARE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘Medi5 care provider’’ means a provider of services (as de6 fined in subsection (u) of section 1861 of the Social 

7 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x)) and a supplier (as 

8 defined in subsection (d) of such section), including 

9 a supplier of durable medical equipment and sup10 plies. 

11 (4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro12 gram’’ means the pilot program conducted under 

13 this section. 

14 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

16 (6) SMART CARD.—The term ‘‘smart card’’ 

17 means a secure, electronic, machine readable, fraud18 resistant, tamper-resistant card that includes an em19 bedded integrated circuit chip with a secure micro20 controller. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS