II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Better Efficiency and 

5 Administrative Simplification Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OPTION TO RECEIVE MEDICARE SUMMARY NOTICE 

2 ELECTRONICALLY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1806 of the Social Secu4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395b–7) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(c) FORMAT OF STATEMENTS FROM SECRETARY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ELECTRONIC OPTION BEGINNING IN

8 2016.—Subject to paragraph (2), for statements de9 scribed in subsection (a) that are furnished for a pe10 riod in 2016 or a subsequent year, in the case that 

11 an individual described in subsection (a) elects, in 

12 accordance with such form, manner, and time speci13 fied by the Secretary, to receive such statement in 

14 an electronic format, such statement shall be fur15 nished to such individual for each period subsequent 

16 to such election in such a format and shall not be 

17 mailed to the individual. 

18 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON REVOCATION OPTION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), the Secretary may determine a max21 imum number of elections described in para22 graph (1) by an individual that may be revoked 

23 by the individual. 

24 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM OF ONE REVOCATION OP25 TION.—In no case may the Secretary determine 


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1 a maximum number under subparagraph (A) 

2 that is less than one. 

3 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall en4 sure that, in the most cost effective manner and be5 ginning January 1, 2017, a clear notification of the 

6 option to elect to receive statements described in 

7 subsection (a) in an electronic format is made avail8 able, such as through the notices distributed under 

9 section 1804, to individuals described in subsection 

10 (a).’’. 

11 (b) ENCOURAGED EXPANSION OF ELECTRONIC

12 STATEMENTS.—To the extent to which the Secretary of 

13 Health and Human Services determines appropriate, the 

14 Secretary shall— 

15 (1) apply an option similar to the option de16 scribed in subsection (c)(1) of section 1806 of the 

17 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395b–7) (relating to 

18 the provision of the Medicare Summary Notice in an 

19 electronic format), as added by subsection (a), to 

20 other statements and notifications under title XVIII 

21 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.); and 

22 (2) provide such Medicare Summary Notice and 

23 any such other statements and notifications on a 

24 more frequent basis than is otherwise required under 

25 such title. 


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1 SEC. 3. RENEWAL OF MAC CONTRACTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1874A(b)(1)(B) of the 

3 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395kk–1(b)(1)(B)) is 

4 amended by striking ‘‘5 years’’ and inserting ‘‘10 years’’. 

5 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub6 section (a) shall apply to contracts entered into on or 

7 after, and to contracts in effect as of, the date of the en8 actment of this Act. 

9 (c) CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE TRANSPARENCY.— 

10 Section 1874A(b)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 

11 U.S.C. 1395kk–1(b)(3)(A)) is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following new clause: 

13 ‘‘(iv) CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE

14 TRANSPARENCY.—To the extent possible 

15 without compromising the process for en16 tering into and renewing contracts with 

17 medicare administrative contractors under 

18 this section, the Secretary shall make 

19 available to the public the performance of 

20 each medicare administrative contractor 

21 with respect to such performance require22 ments and measurement standards.’’. 

Æ 


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