interruption or loss of civil service status or
privilege.
(D) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND
INTERMITTENT
SERVICES.—The Chair may
procure temporary and intermittent services
under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States
Code, at rates for individuals which do not ex-
ceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of
basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive
Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
(E) CONTRACTS.—The Chair may enter
into contracts or other arrangements that may
be necessary for the Commission to perform its
duties.
(F) INTERNAL ORGANIZATION.—The Chair
may prescribe such rules as the Chair deter-
mines necessary with respect to the internal or-
ganization of the Commission. The Commission
shall create such committees (composed of
Commission members and others as appointed
by the Chair) as necessary to enable the Com-
mission to meet its responsibilities and func-
tions.
(g) REPORTS.—The Commission shall submit to the
Panel such reports as may be requested by the Panel on
each study or project conducted by the Commission. Such
reports shall contain such information as requested by the
Panel.
(h) TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.—The Commis-
sion shall terminate 20 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this title.
(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to
carry out the purposes of this section.
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any sums appropriated
under the authorization contained in this subsection
shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation,
until expended.
SEC. 215. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this title:
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘adminis-
trator’’ has the meaning given that term in section
3(16)(A) of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974.
(2) CODE SETS.—The term ‘‘code sets’’ means
any codes used for supplying specific data in a uni-
form data set, including tables of terms, medical di-
agnostic codes, medical procedure codes, identifica-
tion numbers, and any code sets of the National
Uniform Billing Committee, the Health Care Fi-
nancing Administration, or ANSI.
(3) EMPLOYEE WELFARE BENEFIT PLAN.—The
term ‘‘employee welfare benefit plan’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 3(1) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
(4) HEALTH
CARE
INFORMATION
CLEARING-
HOUSE.—The term ‘‘health care information clear-
inghouse’’ means a public or private entity that—
(A) processes data that cannot be sent di-
rectly due to lack of proper formatting or edit-
ing; and
(B) facilitates the translation of data to
the standardized data set and code sets between
persons who normally would send or receive the
transaction;
but does not store information processed beyond the
time required to complete its task and communicate
the information.
(5) HEALTH CARE VALUE-ADDED NETWORK.—
The term ‘‘health care value-added network’’ means
any entity that provides additional services beyond
the transmission of data or value, such as the stor-
age of electronic data or value and the transfer of
such data or value between health care entities.
(6) HEALTH
PLAN.—the term ‘‘health plan’’
means an insured health plan and a self-insured
health plan.
(7) INSURED HEALTH PLAN.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘insured health
plan’’ means any hospital or medical service
policy or certificate, hospital or medical service
plan contract, or health maintenance organiza-
tion group contract offered by an insurer.
(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term does not in-
clude any of the following—
(i) coverage only for accident, dental,
vision, disability income, or long-term care
insurance, or any combination thereof,
(ii) medicare supplemental health in-
surance,
(iii) coverage issued as a supplement
to liability insurance,
(iv) worker’s compensation or similar
insurance,
(v) automobile medical-payment insur-
ance,
(vi) coverage for a specified disease or
illness, or
(vii) a hospital or fixed indemnity pol-
icy (unless the Secretary determines that
such a policy provides sufficiently com-
prehensive coverage of a benefit so that it
should be treated as an insured health
plan),
or any combination thereof.
(8) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’ means any
entity that offers a health plan under which such en-
tity is at risk for all or part of the cost of benefits
under the plan, and includes any agent of such
entity.
(9) PARTICIPANT IN THE HEALTH CARE SYS-
TEM.—The term ‘‘participant in the health care sys-
tem’’ means any Federal health care program, State,
employee welfare benefit plan, health plan, adminis-
trator, insurer, or provider.
(10) PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘provider’’ means a
physician, hospital, pharmacy, laboratory, or other
person licensed or otherwise authorized under appli-
cable State laws to furnish health care items or serv-
ices.
(11) SELF-INSURED HEALTH PLAN.—The term
‘‘self-insured health plan’’—
(A) means an employee welfare benefit
plan or other arrangement insofar as the plan
or arrangement provides health benefits and
that is funded in a manner other than through
the purchase of 1 or more insured health plans,
but
(B) does not include any coverage or insur-
ance described in paragraph (7)(B).
(12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the several States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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