II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1718 

To provide for the repeal of certain provisions of the Patient Protection 

and Affordable Care Act that have the effect of rationing health care. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 8, 2015 

Mr. ROBERTS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for the repeal of certain provisions of the Patient 

Protection and Affordable Care Act that have the effect 

of rationing health care. 

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 ‘‘Four Rationers Repeal 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF THE INDEPENDENT PAYMENT ADVI7 SORY BOARD. 

8 Effective as of the enactment of the Patient Protec9 tion and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148), sec10 tions 3403 and 10320 of such Act (including the amendVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jul 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1718.IS S1718

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1 ments made by such sections) are repealed, and any provi2 sion of law amended by such sections is hereby restored 

3 as if such sections had not been enacted into law. 

4 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF THE CENTER FOR MEDICARE AND MED5 ICAID INNOVATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1115A of the Social Secu7 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1315a) is repealed. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) TITLE XVIII OF SSA.—Section 

10 1899(b)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 1395jjj(b)(4)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) A program or demonstration project 

13 that involves shared savings under this title.’’. 

14 (2) TITLE XIX OF SSA.—Section 1902(a) of the 

15 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)) is amend16 ed— 

17 (A) in paragraph (79), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

18 after the semicolon at the end; 

19 (B) in paragraph (80), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

20 and inserting a period; and 

21 (C) by striking paragraph (81). 

22 (3) PHSA.—Section 933 of the Public Health 

23 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299b–33) is amended— 

24 (A) by striking subsection (f); and 


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1 (B) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub2 section (f). 

3 (4) PPACA.—The Patient Protection and Af4 fordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148) is amend5 ed— 

6 (A) in section 2705 (42 U.S.C. 1315a 

7 note)— 

8 (i) in subsection (a), by striking 

9 ‘‘shall, in coordination’’ and that follows 

10 through ‘‘establish’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 

11 establish’’; and 

12 (ii) in subsection (d)(2), by striking 

13 ‘‘section 1115A(b)(3) of the Social Secu14 rity Act (as so added)’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

15 Social Security Act’’; and 

16 (B) in section 10328(b) (42 U.S.C. 

17 1395w–104 note), by striking ‘‘or to study’’ and 

18 all that follows through ‘‘3021’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

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

21 this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES PREVENTIVE 

2 SERVICES TASK FORCE AUTHORITY. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE BENEFITS.—Section 

4 2713(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 300gg–13(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking paragraph (1); 

7 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘not described 

8 in paragraph (1)’’; and 

9 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

10 (5) as paragraphs (1) through (4), respectively. 

11 (b) REPEAL OF COMMUNITY PREVENTIVE SERVICES

12 TASK FORCE.—Section 4003 of the Patient Protection 

13 and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148) is re14 pealed and the provisions of the Public Health Service Act 

15 amended by such section are restored or revived as if such 

16 section 4003 had not been enacted. 

17 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN USES OF DATA OB18 TAINED FROM COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVE19 NESS RESEARCH; ACCOUNTING FOR PERSON20 ALIZED MEDICINE AND DIFFERENCES IN PA21 TIENT TREATMENT RESPONSE. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv24 ices— 

25 (1) shall not use data obtained from the con26 duct of comparative effectiveness research, including 


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1 such research that is conducted or supported using 

2 funds appropriated under the American Recovery 

3 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) 

4 or authorized or appropriated under the Patient 

5 Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 

6 111–148), to deny or delay coverage of an item or 

7 service under a Federal health care program (as de8 fined in section 1128B(f) of the Social Security Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b(f))); and 

10 (2) shall ensure that comparative effectiveness 

11 research conducted or supported by the Federal 

12 Government accounts for factors contributing to dif13 ferences in the treatment response and treatment 

14 preferences of patients, including patient-reported 

15 outcomes, genomics and personalized medicine, the 

16 unique needs of health disparity populations, and in17 direct patient benefits. 

18 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall be construed as affecting the authority of the 

20 Commissioner of Food and Drugs under the Federal 

21 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or the Public Health Serv22 ice Act. 

Æ 


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