II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2834 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to preserve access to 

rehabilitation innovation centers under the Medicare program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dr. Joanne Smith Me5 morial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESERVING ACCESS TO REHABILITATION INNOVA7 TION CENTERS UNDER MEDICARE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1886(j)(7)(E) of the So9 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(j)(7)(E)) is amend10 ed— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA

2 SUBMITTED.—The’’ and inserting ‘‘PUBLIC AVAIL3 ABILITY OF DATA SUBMITTED.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The’’; and 

5 (2) by inserting after clause (i), as redesignated 

6 by paragraph (1), the following new clauses: 

7 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC RECOGNITION OF REHA8 BILITATION INNOVATION CENTERS.—Be9 ginning not later than one year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this clause, the 

11 Secretary shall make publicly available on 

12 such Internet website, in addition to the 

13 information required to be reported on 

14 such website under clause (i), a list of all 

15 rehabilitation innovation centers, and shall 

16 update such list on such website not less 

17 frequently than biennially. In carrying out 

18 the activities under this clause, the Sec19 retary shall disseminate research, best 

20 practices, and other clinical information 

21 identified or developed by such rehabilita22 tion innovation centers to, as appropriate, 

23 Federal agencies, hospitals, health profes24 sional organizations, and national and 

25 State accreditation bodies. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) REHABILITATION INNOVATION

2 CENTERS DEFINED.—For purposes of 

3 clause (ii), the term ‘rehabilitation innova4 tion centers’ means a rehabilitation facility 

5 that, as of the applicable date (as defined 

6 in clause (v)), is a rehabilitation facility 

7 described in clause (iv). 

8 ‘‘(iv) REHABILITATION FACILITY DE9 SCRIBED.—A rehabilitation facility de10 scribed in this clause is a rehabilitation fa11 cility that— 

12 ‘‘(I) is classified as a rehabilita13 tion facility under the IRF Rate Set14 ting File for the Inpatient Rehabilita15 tion Facility Prospective Payment 

16 System for Federal Fiscal Year 2019 

17 (83 Fed. Reg. 38514), or any suc18 cessor regulations that contain such 

19 information; 

20 ‘‘(II) holds, as of the applicable 

21 date at least one Federal rehabilita22 tion research and training designation 

23 for research projects on traumatic 

24 brain injury or spinal cord injury 

25 from the National Institute on DisVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:03 Sep 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2834.IS S2834

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1 ability, Independent Living, and Re2 habilitation Research at the Depart3 ment of Health and Human Services, 

4 based on such data submitted to the 

5 Secretary by a facility, in a form, 

6 manner, and time frame specified by 

7 the Secretary; 

8 ‘‘(III) submits to the Secretary a 

9 description of the clinical research en10 terprise of the facility and a summary 

11 of research activities of the facility 

12 that are supported by Federal agen13 cies; 

14 ‘‘(IV) has a minimum Medicare 

15 estimated weight per discharge of 

16 1.20 for the most recent fiscal year 

17 for which such information is avail18 able according to the IRF Rate Set19 ting File described in subclause (I), or 

20 any successor regulations that contain 

21 such information; and 

22 ‘‘(V) has a minimum teaching 

23 status of 0.075 for the most recent 

24 fiscal year for which such information 

25 is available according to the IRF Rate 


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1 Setting File described in subclause 

2 (I), or any successor regulations that 

3 contain such information. 

4 ‘‘(v) APPLICABLE DATE DEFINED.— 

5 For purposes of clauses (iii) and (iv), the 

6 term ‘applicable date’ means— 

7 ‘‘(I) with respect to the initial 

8 publication of a list under clause (ii), 

9 the date of the enactment of such 

10 clause; and 

11 ‘‘(II) with respect to the publica12 tion of an updated list under clause 

13 (ii), a date specified by the Secretary 

14 that is not more than one year prior 

15 to the date of such publication. 

16 ‘‘(vi) IMPLEMENTATION.—Notwith17 standing any other provision of law the 

18 Secretary may implement clauses (ii) 

19 through (v) by program instruction or oth20 erwise. 

21 ‘‘(vii) NONAPPLICATION OF PAPER22 WORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chapter 35 of 

23 title 44, United States Code, shall not 

24 apply to data collected under clauses (ii) 

25 through (v).’’. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than March 15, 2022, the 

2 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to 

3 Congress a report containing any recommendations for 

4 such legislation or administrative action as the Secretary 

5 determines appropriate to preserve access to rehabilitation 

6 innovation centers (as defined in section 1886(j)(7)(E)(iii) 

7 of the Social Security Act, as added by subsection (a)). 

Æ 


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