II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 760

To establish the National Commission on the Long-Term Solvency of the

Medicare Program.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 4 (legislative day, MAY 1), 1995

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

referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To establish the National Commission on the Long-Term

Solvency of 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 Commission

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com8 mission to be known as the National Commission on the

9 Long-Term Solvency of the Medicare Program (hereafter

10 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).
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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com2 posed of 15 members appointed as follows:

3 (1) Five members shall be appointed by the

4 President from among officers or employees of the

5 executive branch, private citizens of the United

6 States, or both. Not more than 3 members selected

7 by the President shall be members of the same polit8 ical party.

9 (2) Five members shall be appointed by the Ma10 jority Leader of the Senate from among members of

11 the Senate, private citizens of the United States, or

12 both. Not more than 3 of the members selected by

13 the Majority Leader shall be members of the same

14 political party.

15 (3) Five members shall be appointed by the

16 Speaker of the House of Representatives from

17 among members of the House of Representatives,

18 private citizens of the United States, or both. Not

19 more than 3 of the members selected by the Speaker

20 shall be members of the same political party.

21 (4) DATE.—The appointments of the members

22 of the Commission shall be made no later than No23 vember 30, 1995.

24 (c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—Mem25 bers shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any
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1 vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but

2 shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint3 ment.

4 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—No later than 30 days after

5 the date on which all members of the Commission have

6 been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meet7 ing.

8 (e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the

9 call of the Chairman.

10 (f) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the

11 Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser num12 ber of members may hold hearings.

13 (g) CHAIRMAN.—The Commission shall select a

14 Chairman from among its members.

15 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

16 (a) ANALYSES AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

18 (A) review relevant analyses of the current

19 and long-term financial condition of the medi20 care trust funds;

21 (B) identify problems that may threaten

22 the long-term solvency of such trust funds;

23 (C) analyze potential solutions to such

24 problems that will both assure the financial in25 tegrity of the medicare program under title
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1 XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

2 1395 et seq.) and the provision of appropriate

3 health benefits; and

4 (D) provide appropriate recommendations

5 to the Secretary of Health and Human Serv6 ices, the President, and the Congress.

7 (2) DEFINITION OF MEDICARE TRUST

8 FUNDS.—For purposes of this subsection, the term

9 ‘‘medicare trust funds’’ means the Federal Hospital

10 Insurance Trust Fund established under section

11 1817 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i)

12 and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance

13 Trust Fund established under section 1841 of such

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395t).

15 (b) REPORT.—The Commission shall submit its re16 port to the President and the Congress not later than De17 cember 31, 1996.

18 SEC. 4. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

19 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold such

20 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such

21 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission

22 considers advisable to carry out the purposes of this Act.

23 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The

24 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart25 ment or agency such information as the Commission con-
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1 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

2 Upon request of the Chairman of the Commission, the

3 head of such department or agency shall furnish such in4 formation to the Commission.

5 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use

6 the United States mails in the same manner and under

7 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of

8 the Federal Government.

9 SEC. 5. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

10 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—

11 (1) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE FED12 ERAL GOVERNMENT.—All members of the Commis13 sion who are officers or employees of the Federal

14 Government shall serve without compensation in ad15 dition to that received for their services as officers

16 or employees of the United States.

17 (2) PRIVATE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED

18 STATES.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), all members of the Commission who

21 are not officers or employees of the Federal

22 Government shall serve without compensation

23 for their work on the Commission.

24 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of

25 the Commission who are not officers or employ-
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1 ees of the Federal Government shall be allowed

2 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of

3 subsistence, at rates authorized for employees

4 of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of

5 title 5, United States Code, while away from

6 their homes or regular places of business in the

7 performance of services for the Commission, to

8 the extent funds are available therefore.

9 (b) STAFF.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman of the Com11 mission may, without regard to the civil service laws

12 and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive

13 director and such other additional personnel as may

14 be necessary to enable the Commission to perform

15 its duties. At the request of the Chairman, the Sec16 retary of Health and Human Services shall provide

17 the Commission with any necessary administrative

18 and support services. The employment of an execu19 tive director shall be subject to confirmation by the

20 Commission.

21 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairman of the

22 Commission may fix the compensation of the execu23 tive director and other personnel without regard to

24 the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of

25 chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating
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1 to classification of positions and General Schedule

2 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu3 tive director and other personnel may not exceed the

4 rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule

5 under section 5316 of such title.

6 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any

7 Federal Government employee may be detailed to the

8 Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall

9 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or

10 privilege.

11 (d) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT12 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairman of the Commission may

13 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

14 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ15 uals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual

16 rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive

17 Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

18 SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.

19 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the

20 date on which the Commission submits its report under

21 section 2(b).
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1 SEC. 7. FUNDING FOR THE COMMISSION.

2 Any expenses of the Commission shall be paid from

3 such funds as may be otherwise available to the Secretary

4 of Health and Human Services.

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