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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 584 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 584

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide the option 
  to receive Medicare Summary Notices electronically, to increase the 
flexibility and transparency of contracts with medicare administrative 
                  contractors, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 26, 2015

 Mr. Thune (for himself and Mr. Warner) 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 the option 
  to receive Medicare Summary Notices electronically, to increase the 
flexibility and transparency of contracts with medicare administrative 
                  contractors, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Better Efficiency and Administrative 
Simplification Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. OPTION TO RECEIVE MEDICARE SUMMARY NOTICE ELECTRONICALLY.

    (a) In General.--Section 1806 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395b-7) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Format of Statements From Secretary.--
            ``(1) Electronic option beginning in 2016.--Subject to 
        paragraph (2), for statements described in subsection (a) that 
        are furnished for a period in 2016 or a subsequent year, in the 
        case that an individual described in subsection (a) elects, in 
        accordance with such form, manner, and time specified by the 
        Secretary, to receive such statement in an electronic format, 
        such statement shall be furnished to such individual for each 
        period subsequent to such election in such a format and shall 
        not be mailed to the individual.
            ``(2) Limitation on revocation option.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
                Secretary may determine a maximum number of elections 
                described in paragraph (1) by an individual that may be 
                revoked by the individual.
                    ``(B) Minimum of one revocation option.--In no case 
                may the Secretary determine a maximum number under 
                subparagraph (A) that is less than one.
            ``(3) Notification.--The Secretary shall ensure that, in 
        the most cost effective manner and beginning January 1, 2017, a 
        clear notification of the option to elect to receive statements 
        described in subsection (a) in an electronic format is made 
        available, such as through the notices distributed under 
        section 1804, to individuals described in subsection (a).''.
    (b) Encouraged Expansion of Electronic Statements.--To the extent 
to which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 
appropriate, the Secretary shall--
            (1) apply an option similar to the option described in 
        subsection (c)(1) of section 1806 of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1395b-7) (relating to the provision of the Medicare 
        Summary Notice in an electronic format), as added by subsection 
        (a), to other statements and notifications under title XVIII of 
        such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.); and
            (2) provide such Medicare Summary Notice and any such other 
        statements and notifications on a more frequent basis than is 
        otherwise required under such title.

SEC. 3. RENEWAL OF MAC CONTRACTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1874A(b)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395kk-1(b)(1)(B)) is amended by striking ``5 years'' and 
inserting ``10 years''.
    (b) Application.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply 
to contracts entered into on or after, and to contracts in effect as 
of, the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Contractor Performance Transparency.--Section 1874A(b)(3)(A) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395kk-1(b)(3)(A)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(iv) Contractor performance 
                        transparency.--To the extent possible without 
                        compromising the process for entering into and 
                        renewing contracts with medicare administrative 
                        contractors under this section, the Secretary 
                        shall make available to the public the 
                        performance of each medicare administrative 
                        contractor with respect to such performance 
                        requirements and measurement standards.''.
                                 <all>
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