114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1168 

AN ACT 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to preserve 

access to rehabilitation innovation centers 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, 
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†S 1168 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Rehabilita3 tion Innovation Centers Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) In the United States, there are an esti7 mated 1,181 inpatient rehabilitation facilities. 

8 Among these facilities is a small group of inpatient 

9 rehabilitation institutions that are contributing to 

10 the future of rehabilitation care medicine, as well as 

11 to patient recovery, scientific innovation, and quality 

12 of life. 

13 (2) This unique category of inpatient rehabilita14 tion institutions treats the most complex patient 

15 conditions, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, 

16 spinal cord injury, childhood disease, burns, and 

17 wartime injuries. 

18 (3) These leading inpatient rehabilitation insti19 tutions are all not-for-profit or Government-owned 

20 institutions and serve a high volume of Medicare or 

21 Medicaid beneficiaries. 

22 (4) These leading inpatient rehabilitation insti23 tutions have been recognized by the Federal Govern24 ment for their contributions to cutting-edge research 

25 to develop solutions that enhance quality of care, im-
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1 prove patient outcomes, and reduce health care 

2 costs. 

3 (5) These leading inpatient rehabilitation insti4 tutions help to improve the practice and standard of 

5 rehabilitation medicine across the Nation in urban, 

6 suburban, and rural communities by training physi7 cians, medical students, and other clinicians, and 

8 providing care to patients from all 50 States. 

9 (6) It is vital that these leading inpatient reha10 bilitation institutions are supported so they can con11 tinue to lead the Nation’s efforts to— 

12 (A) advance integrated, multidisciplinary 

13 rehabilitation research; 

14 (B) provide cutting-edge medical care to 

15 the most complex rehabilitation patients; 

16 (C) serve as education and training facili17 ties for the physicians, nurses, and other health 

18 professionals who serve rehabilitation patients; 

19 (D) ensure Medicare and Medicaid bene20 ficiaries receive state-of-the-art, high-quality re21 habilitation care by developing and dissemi22 nating best practices and advancing the quality 

23 of care utilized by post-acute providers in all 50 

24 States; and 
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1 (E) support other inpatient rehabilitation 

2 institutions in rural areas to help ensure access 

3 to quality post-acute care for patients living in 

4 these communities. 

5 SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT RELATING TO THE COSTS IN6 CURRED BY, AND THE MEDICARE PAYMENTS 

7 MADE TO, REHABILITATION INNOVATION 

8 CENTERS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1886(j) of the Social Se10 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(j)) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para12 graph (9); and 

13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol14 lowing new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(8) STUDY AND REPORT RELATING TO THE

16 COSTS INCURRED BY, AND THE MEDICARE PAY17 MENTS MADE TO, REHABILITATION INNOVATION

18 CENTERS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct 

20 a study to assess the costs incurred by rehabili21 tation innovation centers (as defined in sub22 paragraph (C)) that are beyond the prospective 

23 rate for each of the following activities: 

24 ‘‘(i) Furnishing items and services to 

25 individuals under this title. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) Conducting research. 

2 ‘‘(iii) Providing medical training. 

3 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than July 1, 

4 2019, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

5 report containing the results of the study under 

6 subparagraph (A), together with recommenda7 tions for such legislation and administrative ac8 tion as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(C) REHABILITATION INNOVATION CEN10 TER DEFINED.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 

12 the term ‘rehabilitation innovation center’ 

13 means a rehabilitation facility that, deter14 mined as of the date of the enactment of 

15 this paragraph, is described in clause (ii) 

16 or clause (iii). 

17 ‘‘(ii) NOT-FOR-PROFIT.—A rehabilita18 tion facility described in this clause is a fa19 cility that— 

20 ‘‘(I) is classified as a not-for21 profit entity under the IRF Rate Set22 ting File for the Correction Notice for 

23 the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility 

24 Prospective Payment System for Fed-
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1 eral Fiscal Year 2012 (78 Fed. Reg. 

2 59256); 

3 ‘‘(II) holds at least one Federal 

4 rehabilitation research and training 

5 designation for research projects on 

6 traumatic brain injury, spinal cord in7 jury, or stroke rehabilitation research 

8 from the Rehabilitation Research and 

9 Training Centers or the Rehabilitation 

10 Engineering Research Center at the 

11 National Institute on Disability and 

12 Rehabilitation Research at the De13 partment of Education, based on such 

14 data submitted to the Secretary by a 

15 facility, in a form, manner, and time 

16 frame specified by the Secretary; 

17 ‘‘(III) has a minimum Medicare 

18 case mix index of 1.1144 for fiscal 

19 year 2012 according to the IRF Rate 

20 Setting File described in subclause 

21 (I); and 

22 ‘‘(IV) had at least 300 Medicare 

23 discharges or at least 200 Medicaid 

24 discharges in a prior year as deter25 mined by the Secretary. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) GOVERNMENT-OWNED.—A reha2 bilitation facility described in this clause is 

3 a facility that— 

4 ‘‘(I) is classified as a Govern5 ment-owned institution under the IRF 

6 Rate Setting File described in clause 

7 (ii)(I); 

8 ‘‘(II) holds at least one Federal 

9 rehabilitation research and training 

10 designation for research projects on 

11 traumatic brain injury, spinal cord in12 jury, or stroke rehabilitation research 

13 from the Rehabilitation Research and 

14 Training Centers, the Rehabilitation 

15 Engineering Research Center, or the 

16 Model Spinal Cord Injury Systems at 

17 the National Institute on Disability 

18 and Rehabilitation Research at the 

19 Department of Education, based on 

20 such data submitted to the Secretary 

21 by a facility, in a form, manner, and 

22 time frame specified by the Secretary; 

23 ‘‘(III) has a minimum Medicare 

24 case mix index of 1.1144 for 2012 ac-
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1 cording to the IRF Rate Setting File 

2 described in clause (ii)(I); and 

3 ‘‘(IV) has a Medicare dispropor4 tionate share hospital (DSH) percent5 age of at least 0.6300 according to 

6 the IRF Rate Setting File described 

7 in clause (ii)(I)).’’. 

Passed the Senate December 10 (legislative day, December 9), 2016. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1168 

AN ACT 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 

ters under the Medicare program. preserve access to rehabilitation innovation cen-