I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6848 

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 

FEBRUARY 25, 2022 

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

AGUILAR, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. BACON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. 

LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PORTER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. SOTO, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, and Ms. WILD) 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare Demonstra3 tion of Coverage for Low Vision Devices Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ON MEDICARE COV5 ERAGE OF LOW VISION DEVICES AS DURABLE 

6 MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMONSTRATION

8 PROJECT.— 

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

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

11 Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this 

12 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall com13 mence a project (in this section referred to as the 

14 ‘‘demonstration project’’) to demonstrate and evalu15 ate the fiscal impact of covering low vision devices 

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

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

18 1395j et seq.) in the same or similar manner as cov19 erage is provided for durable medical equipment 

20 under such part. 

21 (2) LOW VISION DEVICE DEFINED.—In this sec22 tion, the term ‘‘low vision device’’ means a device, 

23 prescribed by a physician, that magnifies, enhances, 

24 or otherwise augments or interprets visual images ir25 respective of the size, form, or technological features 

26 of such device and does not include ordinary eyeVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6848.IH H6848

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1 glasses or contact lenses. In the previous sentence, 

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

3 means lenses that are intended to fully correct visual 

4 acuity or fully eliminate refractive error. 

5 (b) PROJECT DETAILS.— 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.—An individual 

7 enrolled under such part is eligible to participate in 

8 the demonstration project if an ophthalmologist or 

9 optometrist, after a clinical evaluation, has deter10 mined and certifies through a prescription that fur11 nishing a low vision device to the individual is medi12 cally necessary. 

13 (2) NATIONAL SCOPE AND DURATION.—The 

14 demonstration project shall be national in scope and 

15 shall be conducted for a period of 5 years. 

16 (3) PROJECT DESIGN.—The Secretary shall de17 sign the demonstration project in a manner so as to 

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

19 from which inferences about the fiscal impact on the 

20 Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust 

21 Fund under section 1841 of the Social Security Act 

22 (42 U.S.C. 1395t) resulting from the permanent 

23 coverage under part B of title XVIII of the Social 

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

25 devices (including coverage for subcategories or subVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6848.IH H6848

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1 sets of such devices) can be made using appropriate 

2 statistical methods. To the maximum extent pos3 sible, such demonstration project shall evaluate the 

4 fiscal impact of permanent coverage under such part 

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

6 expensive low vision devices. 

7 (4) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the dem8 onstration project the Secretary shall consult with 

9 organizations of consumers with vision loss and 

10 other stakeholder organizations. 

11 (c) REPORTS.— 

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

13 days after the last day of the third year of the dem14 onstration project, the Secretary shall submit to the 

15 Committee on Finance of the Senate and to the 

16 Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and 

17 Commerce of the House of Representatives a report 

18 that describes the progress and preliminary findings 

19 from the demonstration project. 

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

21 after the last day of the demonstration project and 

22 after solicitation and consideration of formal written 

23 input on the project from organizations representing 

24 consumers with vision loss and other stakeholder or25 ganizations, the Secretary shall submit to such ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6848.IH H6848

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1 mittees a final report on the project. Such report 

2 shall include an evaluation of the fiscal impact on 

3 the Medicare program under part B of title XVIII 

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

5 of providing coverage of low vision devices (including 

6 coverage for subcategories or subsets of such de7 vices) and such other findings and recommendations 

8 as the Secretary deems appropriate. 

9 (d) FUNDING.—For fiscal year 2022 and for each of 

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

11 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $2,500,000 is ap12 propriated to the Secretary to carry out the demonstration 

13 project. 

Æ 


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