I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5542 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for a temporary 

moratorium on enforcement of the cap amount on payments for hospice 

care under the Medicare Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2008 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Mr. BOREN, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. COLE of Oklahoma, 

Ms. FALLIN, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BONNER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. TAYLOR, and Mr. UDALL of 

New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 

for a temporary moratorium on enforcement of the cap 

amount on payments for hospice care under the Medicare 

Program, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Preserving Access to 

5 Hospice (PATH) Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM OF ENFORCEMENT OF 

2 HOSPICE CAP AMOUNT. 

3 Section 1814(i)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 1395f(i)(2)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘The 

6 amount’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to subparagraph 

7 (E), the amount’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(E) During the period beginning on No11 vember 1, 2005 and ending on October 31, 

12 2008, the payment limitation under subpara13 graph (A) shall not apply with respect to hos14 pice care provided by (or under arrangements 

15 made by) a hospice program during such pe16 riod. In the case where a hospice program has 

17 made any payments to the program under this 

18 part as of the date of enactment of this sub19 paragraph that were not required to be made as 

20 a result of the preceding sentence, the Sec21 retary shall not be required to reimburse the 

22 hospice program for the amount of such pay23 ments.’’. 

24 SEC. 3. MEDPAC STUDY AND REPORT ON HOSPICE CARE. 

25 (a) STUDY.—The Medicare Payment Advisory Com26 mission shall conduct a study on— 


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1 (1) the resource effectiveness and quality of 

2 hospice care as a substitute benefit for other acute 

3 care alternatives under the Medicare program under 

4 title XVIII of the Social Security Act; 

5 (2) the optimal median and average length of 

6 stay in hospice care under the Medicare program; 

7 (3) the reasons for persistently low median and 

8 average length of stay in hospice care under the 

9 Medicare program, and regional variations in timely 

10 access to hospice care under such program; and 

11 (4) the desirability of requiring a national cov12 erage determination (as defined in section 

13 1869(f)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 1395ff(f)(1)(B)) in determining eligibility for hos15 pice care under the Medicare program. 

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall sub18 mit a report on the study conducted under subsection (a), 

19 together with recommendations for such legislation or ad20 ministrative action as the Commission determines appro21 priate. 

22 (c) HOSPICE CARE DEFINED.—In this section, the 

23 term ‘‘hospice care’’ has the meaning given such term in 


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1 section 1861(dd) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 1395x(dd)). 

Æ 


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