I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4129 

To provide for a Medicare demonstration project to evaluate the fiscal impact 

of covering low vision devices as durable medical equipment under part 

B of the Medicare program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. COHEN, and Mrs. WAGNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 provide for a Medicare demonstration project to evaluate 

the fiscal impact of covering low vision devices as durable 

medical equipment under part B 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 Demonstra5 tion of Coverage for Low Vision Devices Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ON MEDICARE COV2 ERAGE OF LOW VISION DEVICES AS DURABLE 

3 MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMONSTRATION

5 PROJECT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 1 

7 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this 

9 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall com10 mence a project (in this section referred to as the 

11 ‘‘demonstration project’’) to demonstrate and evalu12 ate the fiscal impact of covering low vision devices 

13 (including subsets of such devices) under part B of 

14 title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 1395j et seq.) in the same or similar manner as cov16 erage is provided for durable medical equipment 

17 under such part. 

18 (2) LOW VISION DEVICE DEFINED.—In this sec19 tion, the term ‘‘low vision device’’ means a device, 

20 prescribed by a physician, that magnifies, enhances, 

21 or otherwise augments or interprets visual images ir22 respective of the size, form, or technological features 

23 of such device and does not include ordinary eye24 glasses or contact lenses. In the previous sentence, 

25 the term ‘‘ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses’’ 


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1 means lenses that are intended to fully correct visual 

2 acuity or fully eliminate refractive error. 

3 (b) PROJECT DETAILS.— 

4 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.—An individual 

5 enrolled under such part is eligible to participate in 

6 the demonstration project if an ophthalmologist or 

7 optometrist, after a clinical evaluation, has deter8 mined and certifies through a prescription that fur9 nishing a low vision device to the individual is medi10 cally necessary. 

11 (2) NATIONAL SCOPE AND DURATION.—The 

12 demonstration project shall be national in scope and 

13 shall be conducted for a period of 5 years. 

14 (3) PROJECT DESIGN.—The Secretary shall de15 sign the demonstration project in a manner so as to 

16 provide a rich, well-structured, and defined data set 

17 from which inferences about the fiscal impact on the 

18 Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust 

19 Fund under section 1841 of the Social Security Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 1395t) resulting from the permanent 

21 coverage under part B of title XVIII of the Social 

22 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395j et seq.) of low vision 

23 devices (including coverage for subcategories or sub24 sets of such devices) can be made using appropriate 

25 statistical methods. To the maximum extent posVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4129.IH H4129

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1 sible, such demonstration project shall evaluate the 

2 fiscal impact of permanent coverage under such part 

3 for the most function-rich, most powerful, and most 

4 expensive low vision devices. 

5 (4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the dem6 onstration project the Secretary shall consult with 

7 organizations of consumers with vision loss and 

8 other stakeholder organizations. 

9 (c) REPORTS.— 

10 (1) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 180 

11 days after the last day of the third year of the dem12 onstration project, the Secretary shall submit to the 

13 Committee on Finance of the Senate and to the 

14 Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and 

15 Commerce of the House of Representatives a report 

16 that describes the progress and preliminary findings 

17 from the demonstration project. 

18 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the last day of the demonstration project and 

20 after solicitation and consideration of formal written 

21 input on the project from organizations representing 

22 consumers with vision loss and other stakeholder or23 ganizations, the Secretary shall submit to such Com24 mittees a final report on the project. Such report 

25 shall include an evaluation of the fiscal impact on 


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1 the Medicare program under part B of title XVIII 

2 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) 

3 of providing coverage of low vision devices (including 

4 coverage for subcategories or subsets of such de5 vices) and such other findings and recommendations 

6 as the Secretary deems appropriate. 

7 (d) FUNDING.—For fiscal year 2020 and for each of 

8 the four succeeding fiscal years, out of any funds in the 

9 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $2,500,000 is ap10 propriated to the Secretary to carry out the demonstration 

11 project. 

Æ 


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