II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 343 

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

coverage of services of qualified respiratory therapists performed under 

the general supervision of a physician. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2009 

Mrs. LINCOLN (for herself and Mr. CRAPO) 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 provide 

for Medicare coverage of services of qualified respiratory 

therapists performed under the general supervision of 

a physician. 

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 Respiratory 

5 Therapy Initiative Act of 2009’’. 


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•S 343 IS

1 SEC. 2. MEDICARE COVERAGE OF SERVICES OF QUALIFIED 

2 RESPIRATORY THERAPISTS PERFORMED 

3 UNDER THE GENERAL SUPERVISION OF A 

4 PHYSICIAN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1861 of the Social Secu6 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (s)(2)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub9 paragraph (DD); 

10 (B) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub11 paragraph (EE); and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

13 subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(FF) respiratory therapy services which would 

15 be physicians’ services if furnished by a physician 

16 (as defined in subsection (r)(1)) for the diagnosis 

17 and treatment of respiratory illnesses and which are 

18 performed by a respiratory therapist (as defined in 

19 subsection (hhh)) under the general supervision of a 

20 physician and which the respiratory therapist is le21 gally authorized to perform by the State in which 

22 the services are performed, but only if no facility or 

23 other provider charges or is paid any amounts with 

24 respect to the furnishing of such services.’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub26 section: 


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1 ‘‘Respiratory Therapist 

2 ‘‘(hhh) For purposes of subsection (s)(2)(FF) and 

3 section 1833(a)(1)(X) only, the term ‘respiratory thera4 pist’ means an individual who— 

5 ‘‘(1) is credentialed by a national credentialing 

6 board recognized by the Secretary; 

7 ‘‘(2)(A) is licensed to practice respiratory ther8 apy in the State in which the respiratory therapy 

9 services are performed, or 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual in a State 

11 which does not provide for such licensure, is legally 

12 authorized to perform respiratory therapy services 

13 (in the State in which the individual performed such 

14 services) under State law (or the State regulatory 

15 mechanism provided by State law); 

16 ‘‘(3) is a registered respiratory therapist; and 

17 ‘‘(4) holds a bachelor’s degree.’’. 

18 (b) PAYMENT.—Section 1833(a)(1) of such Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(W)’’; and 

21 (2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end 

22 the following: ‘‘(X) with respect to services described 

23 in section 1861(s)(2)(FF) (relating to services fur24 nished by a respiratory therapist) that are furnished 

25 by a respiratory therapist (as defined in section 


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1 1861(hhh)), the amount paid shall be equal to 80 

2 percent of the lesser of the actual charge for the 

3 services or 85 percent of the fee schedule amount 

4 provided under section 1848 for the same services if 

5 furnished by a physician’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to services furnished on or after 

8 January 1, 2010. 

Æ 


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